Iran Ex£cutes Two Men Over January Anti-Govt Protests As Opposition Warns 10 More Face Imminent D£ath
Iran Executes Two Men Over January Anti-Govt Protests As Opposition Warns 10 More Face Imminent Death
The judiciary said the four SSF officers were killed during unrest at Alikhani Square in Isfahan Province, which it described as an attempt to overthrow the government.
Iranian authorities have announced the execution of two men convicted over their alleged roles in the anti-government protests that swept the country in January, while an Iranian opposition coalition warned that 10 other young prisoners sentenced in the same case could face imminent execution.
Iran’s judiciary announced that Erfan Esfandiari and Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi were hanged after being convicted of charges linked to the unrest, including Moharebeh (“waging war against God”), Efsad-fel-Arz (“corruption on Earth”), and the killing of four members of the State Security Force (SSF).
According to the judiciary, the two men were found guilty of tying police officers to a road sign with ropes, attacking them with stones, dousing them with petrol and setting them ablaze during protests in the central city of Isfahan, AFP reports.
The indictment also alleged that the pair filmed the killings and transmitted the footage to television channels outside Iran.
The judiciary said the four SSF officers were killed during unrest at Alikhani Square in Isfahan Province, which it described as an attempt to overthrow the government.
Authorities further alleged that protesters armed with firearms, knives, daggers, machetes and Molotov cocktails attacked a police station, set public property and tyres on fire, and blocked roads.
The judiciary did not disclose the ages of the executed men, nor did it specify when they were arrested or tried.
However, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an Iranian opposition coalition, identified the executed prisoners as 18-year-old Erfan Esfandiari and 24-year-old Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, whom it described as an Afghan national. The group said both were arrested during the January 2026 uprising.
The NCRI also claimed that 10 other defendants convicted in the same “Alikhani Square” case remain on death row and face an immediate risk of execution.
According to the opposition group, all 12 condemned prisoners were removed from the general ward of Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan on Saturday under what it described as the false pretext of meeting the trial judge. It said fellow inmates subsequently staged a protest after authorities failed to disclose their whereabouts.
The opposition coalition identified the remaining death-row prisoners as Alireza Sepahi, 24; Abolfazl Sepahi, 23; Ghaem Hosseini, 20; Shervin Bagherian, 18; Amirhossein Ebrahimi Analoucheh, 19; Amirhossein Safari, 27; Amirhossein Maleki, 19; Ali Dashti, 19; Abolfazl Ebrahimi, 18; and Alireza Reisi, 21.
The NCRI further alleged that the death sentences were handed down by judges Mohammad Reza Tavakoli and Mohammad Barati Dorcheh and claimed the defendants were denied the right to choose independent legal representation.
The executions follow months of unrest that began in late December over worsening economic conditions before escalating into nationwide anti-government demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9.
Iranian authorities have reported more than 3,000 deaths linked to the unrest, attributing the violence to what they described as terrorist acts backed by the United States and Israel.
However, foreign-based human rights organisations have maintained that many protesters were killed by Iranian security forces during the crackdown.
The protests were followed by heightened regional tensions after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened military action against Iran.
The United States and Israel later launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28, triggering a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Since then, rights groups say arrests and executions have increased, targeting individuals allegedly connected to both the protests and the subsequent conflict.
The NCRI accused Iranian authorities of using executions to suppress dissent amid mounting domestic and international pressure on the government.
Calling for urgent international intervention, the opposition coalition urged the United Nations, the European Union and international human rights organisations to act immediately to halt further executions and save the lives of the remaining 10 prisoners on death row.
According to the human rights organisations Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty, Iranian authorities executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, the highest annual figure recorded since 1989.
Amnesty International has consistently ranked Iran as the world’s second-highest executioner after China.
