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Iran hanged two men on Saturday for allegedly killing a member of the security forces during nationwide protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, drawing condemnation from the EU, the United States and other Western nations.
The two men executed on Saturday had been convicted of killing a member of the Basij paramilitary force militia. Three others have been sentenced to death in the same case, while 11 received prison sentences.
“Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, principle perpetrators of the crime that led to the unjust martyrdom of Ruhollah Ajamian were hanged this morning,” the judiciary said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.
The latest executions bring to four the number of protesters officially known to have been executed in the aftermath of the unrest.
The European Union’s top diplomat on Saturday condemned the executions and called on Iran to immediately stop carrying out death sentences against protestors, and annul existing sentences.
“This is yet another sign of the Iranian authorities’ violent repression of civilian demonstrations,” Josep Borrell said in a statement.
The U.S. special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, also condemned the executions, saying they followed “sham trials.” “These executions must stop,” Malley said on Twitter.
British Foreign Minister James Cleverly on Saturday condemned the executions and urged Iran to “immediately end the violence against its own people.
