Iran publicly executes two Isfahan protesters
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- Iranian authorities publicly executed Amirhossein Safari Hosseinabadi and Abolfazl Sepahi Badjiani in Isfahan's Shahid Alikhani Square early Tuesday, deploying heavy security forces overnight amid reports of clashes with civilians who gathered near the site.
- The two were among 12 young men sentenced to death after protests erupted in the same square on 8 January; eight others remain under death sentence.
- Iran accused the defendants of killing four Basij militia members and security personnel, as well as arson and vandalism during clashes in the Malekshahr district.
- UN Special Rapporteur Mai Sato and other experts urged Tehran to halt the executions, citing closed Revolutionary Court hearings, reliance on confessions aired on state television, and defendants who were in their late teens or early twenties at the time of arrest.
- Among those still facing execution is Shervin Bagherian Jebeli, who turned 18 shortly before his arrest; UN experts said Iranian state television broadcast his confession within a week of detention and before any trial had taken place.
- Golmohammad Mohammadi and Erfan Esfandiari were executed on 19 July in the same case, bringing the total number of executions linked to the Alikhani Square case to four.
Why it matters: With four of 12 defendants now executed after the UN appeal was ignored, Iran's defiance deepens its diplomatic isolation while proceeding with executions of defendants arrested as teenagers in closed Revolutionary Court proceedings where convictions relied on televised confessions aired before trial.
