Iran executes Afghan over January protests, IHR says

Iran executed Ghaem Hosseini on Thursday after convicting him over the deaths of four police officers during anti-government protests, while a rights group said he was a 21-year-old Afghan national and that the case showed arbitrary use of the death penalty.

Iran's judiciary website Mizan Online said Hosseini was a foreign national and had been convicted of involvement in the deaths of four police officers. It said he was convicted of drawing a weapon, causing fear and terror, creating widespread insecurity, acting against people's physical integrity and national security, and seriously disrupting public order.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights said Hosseini was from Afghanistan and was hanged at Isfahan central prison. The group said he was accused of kicking one of the policemen and that authorities had presented no evidence proving that his actions caused any of the deaths.

IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam called the case “a stark example of collective punishment and the arbitrary use of the death penalty by the Islamic Republic”.

IHR said Hosseini was the fifth person hanged over the case involving the deaths of four police officers in Isfahan during nationwide protests that peaked in January. It said he was the second Afghan national executed over the protests, after Gol Mohammad Mohammadi was hanged in the same case in July.

The rights group said at least 12 defendants in the Isfahan case have been sentenced to death. It said that since wartime executions resumed on March 19, at least 30 protesters have been executed: 28 in connection with the January protests and two connected to the “Woman. Life. Freedom.” protests that erupted in 2022.

IHR said hundreds of other protesters have been sentenced to death or face charges that could carry the death penalty, including more than 70 in Isfahan.

Amnesty International says Iran executed at least 2,159 people in 2025. More than 30 nations, including France, Britain and Canada, last week condemned Iran's use of capital punishment, saying Tehran was executing protesters to “silence dissent”.