Iran has executed a 23-year-old man accused of killing two members of the security forces in its second use of capital punishment associated with the ongoing anti-government protests taking place across the country.

Majidreza Rahnavard, who was sentenced to death by a court in the city of Mashhad for allegedly killing two members of the Basij volunteer force and wounding four others, was publicly hanged. His family was woken early on Monday morning to be informed that he had been executed and that his body had been buried in a local cemetery.

Rahnavard is the second person to be executed since the nationwide protests began following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. 

Last week, Iran hanged Mohsen Shekari, who was found guilty of “waging war against God” in a revolutionary court following an alleged altercation with security forces on 25 September, during the early stages of the protests.  

Human rights groups said Shekari was forced to confess to his ‘crimes’ and urged the international community to condemn the actions of the Iranian government in order to stop further executions from taking place.

“Mohsen Shekari was executed after a hasty and unfair trial without a lawyer,” said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights. “The international community must immediately and strongly react to this execution. The Islamic Republic must face consequences that will prevent the further execution of protesters. If Mohsen Shekari’s execution is not met with serious consequences for the government, we will face mass execution of protesters.”

As it stands, Iran Human Rights believes 11 people have been sentenced to death since the unrest began, with the Iranian media recently printing the names of 25 people facing the death penalty as a result of their roles in the protests.  

Last month, concerns about the mass execution of protestors were raised after Iranian lawmakers asked the country’s judiciary to “show no leniency” to those taking to the streets.

The protests erupted on 16 September, following Amini’s death. The 22-year-old was arrested by Iran’s so-called morality police for supposedly wearing an “improper” form of hijab during a trip to the country’s capital, Tehran, and died in hospital after spending three days in a coma, which her family alleged resulted from Amini being beaten by officers during her time in police custody.

Iranian police have denied mistreatment, but witnesses at the scene of her arrest in Tehran told journalists that police beat Amini with a baton following her arrest, and reports later emerged that her head was banged against the police vehicle. 

Since then, large-scale protests have continued across the country, making these demonstrations the biggest show of dissent against the Iranian regime for decades. As part of the protests, women have been burning their hijabs and cutting their hair in defiance of the strict rules set by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s government.

Protests have also taken place in major cities across the world. On 1 October, thousands of people gathered in Trafalgar Square in London to show support for the protestors by flying Iranian flags, singing protest songs and leading chants against the Iranian regime.

Protests also took place in cities including Melbourne, New York, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Zurich, Auckland, Stockholm and Sydney, with many marching with flags and banners emblazoned with the slogan “Women, life, liberty”.   

The Iranian regime has cracked down hard on protestors, with recent estimates from human rights experts suggesting that at least 458 people have been killed, including 63 children and 29 women. Thousands have also been arrested, with reports suggesting as many as 14,000 were arrested in the first six weeks of the protests.

Leading on from this, in what seems to be an effort to deter people from taking to the streets, the Iranian regime has been handing down death sentences to people arrested during the ongoing demonstrations. 

According to CNN, in an open letter cited by state-run press TV on 6 November, 227 of Iran’s 290 parliamentary representatives called on the country’s judiciary to “show no leniency” to protestors. 

And later that week, there were reports that an unnamed protestor has been sentenced to death after he was found guilty of moharebeh – enmity against God – and efsad-fil-arz – corruption on earth – for arson of a government building.

In response, the Norway-based human rights organised Iran Human Rights has warned of the possibility of hasty executions without pre-warning and urged the international community to prevent these deaths by taking immediate action.

In a statement, the organisation’s director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “People have the inalienable right to protest. Killing or issuing death sentences against protesters is an international crime. Those calling for such actions are complicit in this crime and must be held accountable.”       

In the weeks following Amini’s death, women across the country were at the forefront of protests against the regime’s restrictive laws, which require women to cover their hair with a hijab or headscarf and cover their arms and legs with loose clothing.

The protests, which took place in towns and cities across the country – including Amini’s hometown of Saqqez – were met with force by police, who used tear gas, gunshots and water cannons in attempts to disperse protestors.

As part of the protests, many women removed their headscarves and burnt them in the streets. Chants of “death to the dictator” were also heard – a chant often used to refer to the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

Dozens were killed during the early stages of the protests, with figures from the Norway-based Iran Human Rights organization suggesting that 133 people lost their lives in the first few weeks of unrest.

Iranian women also uploaded videos of themselves cutting their hair and burning their hijabs on social media in a show of defiance against the government and in support of the protestors, but internet access was heavily restricted by the Iranian government.

The Iranian government also stepped up pressure on journalists and celebrities supporting the protests, with Tehran’s provincial governor Mohsen Mansouri saying the regime would “take action” against those fanning the flames.  

On 18 October there were also growing concerns for the Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi, who went missing for a short time after competing in an international tournament in South Korea without wearing a hijab. 

Iranian law states that women must wear a hijab while taking part in sports, and there were fears that Rekabi would be arrested upon her return home to Iran.

When she appeared back in Tehran she was given a hero’s welcome, but later apologised over what happened and insisted her headscarf had accidentally slipped off. 

However, activists expressed fears at the time that her comments had been made under pressure from Iranian authorities, and the athlete is reportedly now under house arrest. 

On 20 September, the UN’s acting high commissioner for human rights, Nada Al-Nashif, released a statement expressing her alarm at Amini’s death and the police’s response to protestors.

“Mahsa Amini’s tragic death and allegations of torture and ill-treatment must be promptly, impartially and effectively investigated by an independent competent authority that ensures, in particular, that her family has access to justice and truth,” Al-Nashif said. 

“The authorities must stop targeting, harassing and detaining women who do not abide by the hijab rules.” 

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – who spent six years in an Iranian prison before she was returned to the UK earlier this year – recorded a video of her cutting her hair in solidarity with the Iranian protestors taking to the streets.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe can be seen taking a pair of scissors to her hair while she lists the names of protestors and people stuck in prison in Iran, as well as Amini herself.

She finishes the video, which was shared with BBC Persian, by declaring: “For my mother, for my daughter, for the fear of solitary confinement, for the women of my country, for freedom.”

In the aftermath of Amini’s death, many women across Iran have burnt their headscarves and cut their hair, a move which protestors say is an ancient Persian symbol of protest. 

A now-viral Twitter thread by the British-Iranian comedian Omid Djalili also highlighted four of the women who have lost their lives since the protests began.

These include 20-year-old Hadis Najafi, who died after security forces allegedly opened fire on her during protests in the city of Karaj, and Ghazale Chelavi, a 32-year-old who was allegedly shot in the head while protesting in Amol city.  

Commenting on the protests, Heba Morayef, the Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International, described the rising death toll as an “alarming indication” of how ruthless the Iranian security forces’ response has been during internet shutdowns across the country.

“There is no such thing as ‘an impartial investigation’ within Iran,” Morayef said. “UN member states must go beyond toothless statements, hear the cries for justice from victims and human rights defenders in Iran and urgently set up an independent UN investigative mechanism.

“The anger expressed on the streets has also shown how Iranians feel about the omnipresent so-called ‘morality police’ and compulsory veiling laws. It is high time for these discriminatory laws and the security forces enforcing them to be completely removed from Iranian society, once and for all.” 

Amini’s death has also sparked condemnation from the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, with the US imposing sanctions on Iran, denying authorities access to their properties and bank accounts held in the US.

Images: Getty/Matthew Chattle/Future Publishing via Getty Images