Iran has executed at least five men over the past week in cases linked to anti-government protests and security-related charges, as human rights groups warn of an escalating use of capital punishment against political detainees.
The latest executions took place on Sunday, when authorities hanged Mohammadamin Biglari and Shahin Vahedparast, accused of attempting to storm a military site during the January protests and trying to reach an armory, according to the judiciary’s news outlet Mizan.
State media said the two were part of a group that entered a military facility in Tehran, damaged the site and attempted to access its weapons storage area.
Authorities also accused the group of planning to enter other military and security locations, including police stations and Basij bases, to obtain weapons.
The executions followed the hanging on Saturday of two other prisoners, Abolhassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amerian.
Iran’s judiciary described the pair as “terrorists,” saying they had been convicted of “armed rebellion,” membership in the opposition Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and plotting attacks using rocket launchers.
Both men had been sentenced to death in December 2024 by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.
Earlier in the week, authorities executed Amirhossein Hatami, an 18-year-old protest detainee convicted in connection with a fire at a Basij base in Tehran during the January protests.
Hatami was among a group of detainees held responsible for events at the “185 Mahmoud Kaveh” Basij base on January 8.
Families of those arrested told Iran International that Hatami and others had been pushed into the building by unidentified armed individuals during the protests and became trapped inside when the base caught fire.
Human rights groups say the executions form part of a broader rise in capital punishment tied to protest-related cases.
Amnesty International recently warned that at least 11 men detained during the January protests are at risk of imminent execution.
The organization said detainees had been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in custody and convicted in trials it described as grossly unfair and based on forced confessions.
Rights groups have called for an immediate halt to executions linked to the protests, warning that the rapid pace of death sentences could deepen the crackdown on dissent.
