Iran Executes Four Protesters in One Week Amid UN Condemnation

Mehrab Abdollahzadeh, a 29-year-old from the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia, was executed on Sunday, according to the country's judiciary, more than three years after he was detained in the city during major protests, part of the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement in 2022. He was sentenced to death on charges of "corruption on earth" (Mofsed-e-filarz) in connection with the killing of Abbas Fatemiyeh, a member of the all-volunteer Basij paramilitary force. Human rights groups say he had been subjected to physical and psychological torture in prison for obtaining coerced confessions about his involvement in the killing of the security officer. The groups say this was due to the fact that footage recorded from the scene of the murder showed that Abdollahzadeh was not present at the scene, he himself had also denied any involvement in the murder.

The execution of Mehrab Abdollahzadeh comes after the controversial executions of Yaghoub Karimpour and Nasser Bakerzadeh, carried out on Saturday, on charges of alleged "intelligence cooperation with Israel". Iran's judiciary claims Yaghoub Karimpour was cooperation with the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, during last year's 12-Day War, sending sensitive information to them to coordinate their attacks. Additionally, Sassan Azadwar Junghani was also executed in Isfahan on Thursday. He was a 21-year-old karate champion who was detained during the nationwide anti-government demonstrations in January. Iran's judiciary has sped up the process of sentencing and execution under the pretext of war conditions, adding to concerns over widespread human rights violations in the country.

Responding to the criticism, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeai, the head of Iran's judiciary, said Tehran will "not neglect in the trial and legal punishment of the criminals whose hand is smeared with the blood of our people". United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has also expressed concern over the new wave of executions saying Iranian people's rights are being severely and violently stripped by those in power.

Last week, the UN said Iran had executed at least 21 people and detained more than 4,000 since the start of the US-Israeli war on the country on the 28th of February. Since the statement, at least four others were announced to have been executed. Nine of those executed since 28 February were in connection with the January protests. 10 others were killed for membership in opposition groups, while two were executed on espionage charges, according to the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva. The agency also added that since 9 March, "more than 4,000 people are estimated to have been detained in Iran on national security-related charges."