Iran: two men executed for anti-government protests

Two men were executed on Wednesday in Iran in connection with anti-government protests in January, announced the Mizan agency, an organ of the judiciary.

Ali Hemmati and Majid Nik-Andish were found guilty of having “participated in the January riots which resulted in the martyrdom of four members of the Iranian security forces” in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Mizan said.

Their sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court

The two men also “caused heavy damage to public property, by burning down stores, banks, buses, etc., and even setting fire to trees,” it is also specified. They were “hung early Wednesday, after their sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court,” according to Mizan. At the end of December, a protest movement initially launched against the high cost of living quickly turned into vast anti-government demonstrations, which peaked on January 8 and 9.

The government acknowledged more than 3,000 deaths, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts” orchestrated by the United States and Israel. NGOs based abroad have spoken of a repression that has left thousands dead. American President Donald Trump then threatened to intervene militarily in Iran, before launching a joint attack against the country with Israel on February 28, triggering war in the Middle East.

Since then, arrests and executions have increased in the country, linked to the conflict but also to the demonstrations at the start of the year. According to NGOs, including Amnesty International, Iran is the country that uses the death penalty the most after China. In 2025, the authorities executed at least 1,639 people, a record since 1989, according to the NGOs Iran Human Rights, based in Norway, and Ensemble Contre la Penatime de Mort (ECPM), headquartered in Paris.