IranWashington’s judiciary has sentenced three more anti-government protesters to death on charges of “waging war against God”, its Mizan news agency reported on Monday, rejecting growing international criticism over its fierce crackdown on protesters.
Iran executed two more people on Saturday in its efforts to stamp out the protests, which have slowed significantly since the arrests began just weeks ago.
Mizan said Saleh Mirhashmi, Majid Kazemi and Said Yaghoubi, who were convicted of allegedly killing members of the volunteer Basij militia during anti-government protests in the central city of Isfahan, could appeal against their verdicts.
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The Basij forces, affiliated with the elite Revolutionary Guards, have been at the forefront of the state’s crackdown on unrest sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s morality police on 16 September.
Pope Francis on Monday condemned Iran for using the death penalty on protesters demanding more respect for women.
“The right to life is at risk even in places where the death penalty is being carried out, as is happening these days in Iran, following recent demonstrations demanding greater respect for the dignity of women,” Francis said. “
One of the boldest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution, the protest has drawn support from Iranians in all walks of life and challenges the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic by calling for the downfall of its rulers.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei indicated on Monday that the kingdom had no intention of softening its position, saying “those who set fire to public places have undoubtedly committed treason.” Under Iran’s Islamic law, treason is punishable by death.
Rights activists view the executions, arrests, and harsh sentences of protestors by the clerical establishment as an attempt to intimidate the protestors and instill enough fear in the population to end the unrest.
Small-scale protests continue in Tehran, Isfahan and several other cities, despite the government’s double whammy of repression.
At least four people have been hanged since the protests began, according to the judiciary, including two protesters on Saturday for allegedly killing a member of the Basij.
Amnesty International said last month that Iranian authorities were seeking the death penalty for at least 26 others in what it called “sham trials designed to intimidate protesters”.
Rights activists said on social media that two other protesters, Mohammad Ghobadlu, 22, and Mohammad Baroghani, 18, had been transferred to solitary confinement in the Rajai city prison in the city of Karaj ahead of their execution.
Videos on social media, unverified by Reuters, showed people chanting slogans against Khamenei in front of the prison late on Sunday.
The European Union, the United States and other Western countries have condemned Iran for using the death penalty against protesters.
The Islamic Republic, which has blamed the unrest on its foreign enemies including the United States, sees its crackdown on the protests as a defense of national sovereignty.