Widespread protests have erupted across various cities in Iran after the execution of three individuals on Friday morning for their alleged involvement in the murder of three security guards during the Mahsa Aminî protests.
Demonstrations took place in the neighbourhoods of Settar Khan, Tehran Pars and Ekbatan in Tehran, as well as in the cities of Mashhad, Isfahan, and Karaj, where protesters lit fires on the streets and chanted slogans such as “Death to the dictator,” “We will resist until the end,” “We will overthrow poverty and corruption,” and “Death to Khamenei.”
Footage shared on social media showed groups crying out for revenge and accusing the Iranian regime of being an execution state.
Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaghoubi, and Saleh Mirhashem were executed after being found guilty by Iran’s judiciary of an attack on security forces in the Hane neighbourhood of Isfahan. The executed individuals were alleged to have links to the People’s Mojahedin Organisation. They were sentenced to death for murder in January. They lodged an appeal, but on 10 May the country’s highest appeal court upheld the convictions.
The Mahsa Aminî protests began after the death of 22-year-old Jîna (Mahsa) Aminî, who was detained by the morality police on 13 September 2022 in Tehran. She was beaten during her detention and subsequently died, leading to public outrage. The demonstrations, lasting approximately four months, resulted in hundreds of fatalities. More than ten people are known to have been sentenced to death in connection with the protests, with a total of seven executions carried out, although some death sentences were overturned by the Court of Appeal.
