Iran executed three males on Thursday who had been accused of killing law enforcement officials throughout protests in January, with activists warning of the danger of a brand new surge in hangings as battle rages with Israel and the USA.
They had been the primary hangings Iran has carried out associated to the nationwide demonstrations that had been met with a brutal crackdown by the authorities.
Two sources confirmed to CBS Information that Saleh Mohammadi, a younger member of Iran’s nationwide wrestling group, was among the many three males executed in Iran.
Rights teams stated the trio had been executed and not using a truthful trial and had given confessions below torture.
Mohammadi, Mehdi Ghasemi, and Saeed Davoudi had been hanged within the metropolis of Qom, south of Tehran, after being convicted of the capital crime of waging battle towards God, often known as moharebeh below Iran’s sharia, the judiciary’s Mizan information company stated.
That they had been discovered responsible of involvement within the killing of two law enforcement officials and finishing up “operational actions” in favor of Israel and the USA.
“That is the Iranian terrorist regime,” White Home spokesperson Olivia Wales stated in a press release supplied to CBS Information Thursday night time. “President Trump won’t ever enable these murderous, evil terrorists to acquire a nuclear weapon to threaten the American individuals, and this horrific tragedy is a stark reminder why Operation Epic Fury is righteous, and needed.”
There had been specific concern over the destiny of Mohammadi, a teenage wrestling champion who had taken half in worldwide competitions, who, in response to Amnesty Worldwide, was denied “sufficient protection and compelled to make ‘confessions’… in fast-tracked proceedings that bore no resemblance to a significant trial”.
Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights stated after the executions the three “had been sentenced to demise following an unfair trial, based mostly on confessions obtained below torture.”
It stated Mohammadi had solely turned 19 final week.
Iranian authorized affairs monitor Dadban added that they had been “disadvantaged of efficient entry to unbiased counsel and the proper to protection” and below such circumstances, the usage of the demise penalty resembles an “extrajudicial killing.”
“Danger of mass executions”
Iranian authorities a day earlier executed Kouroush Keyvani, a twin Iranian-Swedish nationwide, on prices of spying for Israel, in a dangling strongly condemned by Stockholm and the European Union.
That was the primary public announcement of such an execution since Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran on February 28, killing Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggering the battle that has unfold throughout the Center East.
“We’re deeply involved concerning the threat of mass executions of protesters and political prisoners within the shadow of battle,” stated Iran Human Rights.
“These executions are carried out to unfold concern within the society, because the Islamic Republic is aware of that the primary menace to its survival comes from the Iranian individuals demanding basic change,” it added.
Protests broke out in Iran in late December towards the rising value of residing earlier than morphing into nationwide anti-government demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9.
Rights teams accuse safety forces of killing 1000’s of their crackdown on the protests, which authorities blamed on the U.S. and Israel.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists Information Company has recorded greater than 7,000 killings, with the overwhelming majority being protesters, whereas warning the toll might be far larger.
Tehran has acknowledged that greater than 3,000 individuals died throughout the unrest, together with members of the safety forces and harmless bystanders, and attributed the violence to “terrorist acts.”
Iran’s hardline judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei has warned there will probably be “no leniency” towards these convicted of violent acts throughout the protests.
Iran Human Rights has stated a whole bunch of individuals are dealing with prices linked to the protests that would see them sentenced to demise. President Donald Trump initially warned the U.S. would assault Iran if it executed protesters however subsequently targeted on its nuclear program.
Iran is the world’s most prolific executioner after China, in response to rights teams. Final yr it hanged a minimum of 1,500 individuals, in response to figures from Iran Human Rights.
The Islamic Republic executed 13 individuals on prices associated to the 2025 June battle with Israel and 12 individuals on prices associated to 2022-2023 nationwide protests, in response to rights teams.
