Iran Protests: Two More Protesters Executed US President Joe Biden Will Not Travel to WEF in Davos

Two more protesters have been executed in Iran. The Iranian judiciary announced on Saturday that Mohammed-Mehdi K. and Sejed-Mohammed H. were hanged in the early hours of the morning. They would have been responsible for the death of a security officer during the systemic protests in November, the judiciary said on its web portal Mizan. This increases the number of protesters executed during the more than three months of systemic protests to four.

According to the judicial authority, the two men had admitted in court to stabbing a supposedly unarmed security officer with a knife during protests in Karaj, a suburb of the capital Tehran. The security guard was a member of the infamous Basij paramilitary unit of the Revolutionary Guards. According to the Mizan report, the high court rejected the request for clemency of the two accused and upheld the death penalty.

During the nationwide protests in December, rap musicians Mohsen S. and Majid-Resa R. were executed for the alleged murder and attempted murder of two Basij members. The executions caused horror at home and abroad. The EU then decided on further sanctions against Iran, also because of serious human rights violations.

According to experts, the sanctions have exacerbated the already acute economic crisis. The national currency, the rial, lost more than 25 percent of its value after the protests. Given the developments in the country, there is no end to the financial crisis in sight. Some observers even fear an economic collapse in the oil-rich country.

According to the latest estimates by the US-based organization Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), more than 500 people have been killed in the protests, including 70 minors and nearly 70 police and security forces. More than 19,000 protesters were arrested.

There is conflicting information about the number of people arrested and sentenced to death, as some have had their death sentences overturned by appeals courts. There is talk of 20 demonstrators who would be on the death list of the judiciary. The Iranian leadership has so far neither confirmed nor denied these and similar statements.

The reason for the nationwide protests in Iran was the death of the Iranian Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini in mid-September. She died in police custody after being arrested by the so-called vice police for violating Islamic dress codes. Since then, there have been repeated protests against the repressive course of the government and the Islamic regime. (sda/dpa)