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The virtual sessions were convened by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, head of Branch 15 of Iran’s Revolutionary Court, the sources said.

They said Salavati heard cases in groups of 14 defendants at the same time.

US President Donald Trump said in January that he halted a planned mass execution of 800 prisoners, a claim for which no corresponding evidence has appeared in Iranian official announcements or domestic reporting.

One of the defendants who was handed a death sentence on Monday was Abolfazl Karimi, 35, who was shot and arrested after trying to help two injured protesters in Tehran on January 6.

Karimi, who is father of a young child and works as a motorbike courier in eastern Tehran, was returning from work when he encountered the two women wounded by security forces’ gunfire on Hengam street.

On Sunday, Judge Salavati, who has been sanctioned by the United States for his role in human rights abuses, also issued a death sentence to Mohammadamin Biglari, a 19-year-old detained during protests.

Within hours of the badges disappearing, accounts styled as satirical versions of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and senior official Ali Larijani began drawing thousands of views and followers.

One parody account using Larijani’s name published a post arguing that anyone who believes a meaningful agreement can be reached with the Islamic Republic is naïve.

Another account in Araghchi’s name, which was suspended later, published the monarchist slogan “Long live the King.”

X also removed blue ticks from accounts attributed to Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, according to a review of the platform.

An account using the name of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei posted a message suggesting he seek refuge with the Taliban. “If our friendly neighboring brothers, the Taliban, kindly issue six-month tourist visas, the situation is dire,” the post read.

Separately, parody accounts posing as parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and late Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani posted mocking replies in comment threads.

One fake Ghalibaf account warned the United States that if it repeated a hostile act “once more, it will become twice,” mimicking official rhetoric in an exaggerated, satirical tone.

A parody account impersonating former president Ebrahim Raisi posted a Valentine’s Day message lamenting that “no one sent us a teddy bear,” while another billed itself as “the first president in Iran’s history to be eaten by a bear” – a darkly comic nod to the online satire that has persisted around his death.

Most of the new profiles visibly carry the label “Parody account,” a designation that appears when a user identifies their profile as satirical.

Under X rules, accounts that present themselves as real individuals without clearly disclosing their unofficial nature can face suspension, prompting many users to add the parody label to reduce the risk of removal.

A parody account created in Khamenei’s name drew nearly 9,000 followers within hours. Similar accounts impersonating Araghchi and Larijani quickly grew to more than 20,000 and about 12,000 followers, respectively.

Official silence, media warning

Islamic Republic officials have not formally addressed the wave of impersonations. The Guards-linked Tasnim website wrote that following the removal of blue verification badges, several fake accounts misusing Larijani’s name and image had become active.

The episode follows earlier disputes between Iranian authorities and the platform. In November, X introduced a location feature showing the approximate origin of posts.

The update exposed numerous pro-government figures and individuals tied to the Islamic Republic posting from inside Iran, enjoying a tiered, privileged internet, where most users must bypass state restrictions on social media through tools such as VPNs.

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  New X location feature fuels dispute over unequal internet access in Iran

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  US slams Iran for giving unrestricted internet to officials and loyalists

The platform also replaced the Islamic Republic flag emoji with the pre-1979 Lion and Sun emblem for accounts set to Iran, prompting criticism from pro-government users and praise from some opposition voices.

Fifty-one Iranian lawmakers urged the foreign minister to state Iran’s opposition to the Abraham Accords, a US-brokered normalization agreement launched under President Donald Trump, and to adopt what state media described as a “revolutionary stance” against the plan.

In a written warning read out during a parliamentary session on Monday, the lawmakers called on Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to state Iran’s position transparently and explain the dimensions of the proposal in relation to Islamic countries.

The Abraham Accords were US-brokered agreements launched in 2020 under Trump that led several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, to normalize relations with Israel. Iran has strongly opposed the accords.

An Iranian teachers’ union called on Monday for a nationwide school shutdown on Feb. 18 as a day of mourning and protest over the killing of school students during the unrest.

The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations urged teachers to stay away from classrooms and education offices and asked parents not to send their children to school that day.

In a statement, the umbrella group, which links teachers’ trade associations across several provinces, said more than 230 children and teenagers had been killed by government forces during the protests.

The union also encouraged teachers and the public to attend 40th-day memorial ceremonies for those killed, saying empty classroom seats should not become routine and that schools should serve as a place to demand the right to life.

An Iranian lawmaker on Monday called on the Foreign Ministry to expel Germany’s ambassador in Tehran over a large rally by Iranians in Munich, and urged action against other European countries that allowed similar gatherings.

“Expel the German ambassador and charge d’affaires so they do not repeat such mistakes next time,” Javad Hosseinikia said during a parliamentary session. He also pointed to European countries more broadly over rallies by Iranians abroad.

Hundreds of thousands gathered in Munich to protest against Iran’s government as nationwide unrest continued inside the country. The rally coincided with a global security conference attended by world leaders in the southern German city.