Iran Executes Protester For Killing 2 Paramilitary Fighters - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th December, 2022) An Iranian man who participated in mass protests and killed two members of the Basij paramilitary force, affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard, has been publicly executed in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, media reported on Monday.

The murder of Majidreza Rahnavard has become the second known protest-related execution in Iran, the IRNA news agency reported.

Last week, Iran's judiciary said that a protester who attacked a police officer with a knife had been executed in what media called the first publicly known execution over ongoing protests in the country.

Violent riots broke out in Iran in mid-September in connection with the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in police custody after being detained for wearing an "improper" hijab.

Many Iranians blamed Amini's death on the controversial morality police, alleging that officers hit her in the head while interrogating her. The situation escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran's clerical rulers, posing one of the most serious challenges to Iran's theocracy since the 1979 revolution. Tehran believes the unrest has been instigated from abroad.

Several people have been sentenced to death during the protests. Last week Iranian media reported that a court had sentenced five defendants to death for killing a Basij member. Eleven other defendants, including three minors, were handed lengthy jail terms.