Tehran court executes first victim of unrest

Its director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, called on the international community to take urgent action and “strongly warn the Islamic Republic of the consequences of executing protesters”.

Following the death in detention of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been arrested by morality police for allegedly violating the strict hijab requirements, protests against Iran’s religious establishment erupted two months ago.

They are said to have multiplied to 140 cities and towns and grown into the Islamic Republic’s biggest threat in more than a decade.

Iran Human Rights claims that 326 protestors, including 43 children and 25 women, had died as a result of security forces’ brutal crackdown.

Another news source operating outside the nation, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), has reported that 341 people have died and 15,800 demonstrators have been imprisoned. Additionally, 39 security staff deaths have been reported.

The protests were described by Iran’s authorities as “riots” started by the nation’s adversaries outside.

Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, head of the judiciary, said last week that “important criminals” should be found as soon as possible and given penalties that would serve as a deterrence to others.

In Iran’s Sharia-based legal system, “rioters” could be charged with “moharebeh” (enmity against God), “efsad fil-arz” (corruption on Earth), and “baghy” (armed rebellion), all of which are punishable by the death penalty.

He reportedly made the statement in response to a plea for retributive justice made by 272 of the 290 members of Iran’s parliament. He said that those who disrupt national security, use weapons or firearms, or kill someone may face “qisas” (retaliation in kind).

According to judiciary records, more than 2,000 persons have already been accused of taking part in the “recent riots”.

On Sunday, judicial officials were quoted in the local media as claiming that 164 people had been accused in the southern province of Hormozgan, 276 more in the central province of Markazi, and 316 in the neighboring province of Isfahan.

French President Emmanuel Macron claimed the crackdown by Iranian authorities was “unprecedented” in an interview with France Inter radio broadcast on Monday. He also stated he was in favor of “a robust diplomatic reaction and sanctions” on those involved.

He also frequently referred to the turmoil as a “revolution.”

He continued, “The grandchildren of the [1979 Islamic] revolution are making a revolution,” saying that “women initiated this movement.”

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The remarks were described as “regrettable and shameful” by Iran’s foreign minister.

The European Union later levied penalties on 29 Iranians and three organizations it claimed were “involved for the oppression of the Iranian demonstrators.”

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, the morality police team that detained Mahsa Amini, provincial leaders of the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF), and members of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps were among those targeted (IRGC).

Issa Zarepour, the minister of communications, Vahid Mohammad Naser Majid, the head of the cyber police, as well as a number of LEF and IRGC officials were the targets of the UK’s own round of new sanctions.

Separately, officials in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq said that two persons were murdered on Monday as a result of Iran’s use of armed drones and missiles to attack the facilities of the exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition groups there.

According to the commander of the IRGC’s ground troops, some of the “riots” in Kurdish-populated cities in north-western Iran were started by “separatist groups” that were being targeted.

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