Iran Hangs Two Convicted in January Protests
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- Iran's judiciary hanged Erfan Esfandiari and Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi on Sunday (July 19, 2026) over charges stemming from anti-government protests that began in late December over economic grievances and peaked January 8-9.
- The two men were found guilty of tying police officers to a road sign with ropes, injuring them with stones, dousing them with gasoline, and setting them on fire in the central city of Isfahan, according to the judiciary.
- The indictment stated the two individuals filmed the scene of the killing and transmitted the footage to television channels abroad.
- Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths during the protests, attributing the violence to 'terrorist acts' orchestrated by the United States and Israel, while foreign-based NGOs maintain security forces fired on protesters.
- Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) documented at least 1,639 executions in Iran in 2025 — the largest number for any year since 1989.
- According to Amnesty International, Iran carries out the second-highest number of executions of any country, after China.
Why it matters: Iran executed at least 1,639 people in 2025 — the highest toll since 1989, per rights groups — and the July 2026 hangings show capital punishment is still being applied to protest-related conduct. The persistent dispute between Tehran's 'terrorist acts' narrative and NGOs' claims that security forces killed protesters keeps Iran as the world's second-highest executioner after China.
