Iran said it executed two men on Saturday convicted of allegedly killing a paramilitary volunteer during a demonstration, the latest executions aimed at stopping nationwide protests now challenging the country’s theocracy.
Iran’s judiciary identified those executed as Mohammad Karami and Mohammad Hosseini, so four men are known to have been executed since protests began in September over the death of Mahsa Amini.
The Mizan judiciary news agency said the men had been convicted of killing Ruhollah Ajamian, a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards volunteer Basij Force, in the city of Karaj outside Tehran on November 3. The Basij have been deployed in the main cities, attacking and detaining the protesters, who in many cases have fought back.
It was not immediately clear which court heard the cases of the two men. However, Iran’s closed-door Revolutionary Courts, criticized internationally, have handed down two of the death sentences.
Activists say at least 16 people have been sentenced to death in closed-door hearings on protest-related charges. Death sentences in Iran are usually carried out by hanging.
At least 517 protesters have been killed and more than 19,200 people have been arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has closely followed the unrest. The Iranian authorities have not provided an official count of those killed or detained.
The protests began in mid-September, when Amini, 22, died after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. Women have played a prominent role in the protests, with many publicly removing the mandatory Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab.
The protests mark one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Security forces have used live ammunition, pellets, tear gas and batons to disperse protesters, according to human rights groups.
