Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Executions Surge Across Iran, Trailing Only China in State Killings
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
May 8, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Iran hanged two men Monday convicted of blasphemy, authorities said, carrying out rare death sentences for the crime as executions surge across the Islamic Republic following months of unrest.

Iran remains one of the world’s top executioners, having put to death at least 203 prisoners since the start of this year alone, according to the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights. But carrying out executions for blasphemy remains rare, as previous cases saw the sentences reduced by authorities.

The two men executed, Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare, died at Arak Prison in central Iran. They had been arrested in May 2020, accused of being involved in a channel on the Telegram message app called “Critique of Superstition and Religion,” according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Both men faced months of solitary confinement and could not contact their families, the commission said.

The Mizan news agency of Iran’s judiciary confirmed the executions, describing the two men as having insulted Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and promoted atheism. Mizan also accused them of burning a Quran, Islam’s holy book, though it wasn’t clear whether the men allegedly did that or such imagery was shared in the Telegram channel.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, who leads Iran Human Rights, decried the executions as exposing the “medieval nature” of Iran’s theocracy.

“The international community must show with its reaction that executions for expressing an opinion is intolerable,” he said in a statement. “The refusal of the international community to react decisively is a green light for the Iranian government and all their like-minded people around the world.”

It wasn’t immediately clear when Iran carried out its last execution for blasphemy. Other countries in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia, also allow for death sentences to be imposed for blasphemy.

The streak of executions, including members of ethnic minority groups in Iran, comes as monthslong protests over the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police have cooled. Already, at least four people charged over alleged crimes from the demonstrations have been put to death. The protests, which reportedly saw over 500 people killed and 19,000 others arrested, marked one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran Second Behind China in Executions

In 2022, Iran executed at least 582 people, up from 333 people in 2021, according to Iran Human Rights. Amnesty International’s most-recent report on executions put Iran as the world’s second-largest executioner, behind only China, where thousands are believed to be put to death a year.

While some executions are publicized, others are not in Iran.

Many have been for drug-related offenses, but there also have been executions of a British-Iranian accused of spying and another of a Swedish-Iranian convicted of masterminding a 2018 attack on a military parade that killed at least 25.

A German-Iranian who lives in California, Jamshid Sharmahd, also faces a looming execution as tensions remain high between Tehran and the West over its accelerating nuclear program. The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said he spoke Monday with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian about Sharmahd and “asked Iran not to execute” him.

Human Rights Activists in Iran, another group monitoring the Islamic Republic, warned last week about the “alarming surge” in executions.

“Iranian authorities have an absolute obligation to uphold international human rights standards and instead, there is ongoing impunity for grave violations of the right to life — and more,” said Skylar Thompson, the head of global advocacy and accountability at the group.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Judge Temporarily Bars Trump From Deploying National Guard Troops in Los Angeles

DON'T MISS

Israel Attacks Iran’s Capital With Explosions Booming Across Tehran

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Wildfire Threatens Thousands of Acres. Evacuation Orders, Warnings Issued

DON'T MISS

Fresno Fire’s Helmet Cam Catches Blaze Raging on House, Occupants Escape Safely

DON'T MISS

Derek Carr Says Fresno Is Home, as City Honors Bulldog Great

DON'T MISS

Fresno Councilmember Warns of Possible ICE Raid at Popular Outdoor Market

DON'T MISS

Americans Split on Trump’s Use of Military in Immigration Protests, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Still Searching for Missing At-Risk Man

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Spends Thousands to Reprint Diplomas With Misty Her’s New Title

DON'T MISS

Another Dozen Migrants Are Transferred to Guantánamo

UP NEXT

Humanitarian Workers Killed in Gaza Ambush Blamed on Hamas, Internet Cut in Territory

UP NEXT

Italy Has No Indication of Imminent Israeli Attack on Iran

UP NEXT

Britain Ready to Implement US Tariff Deal, Trade Minister Says

UP NEXT

UN Says Full Internet Blackout in Gaza, Paralyzing Aid Operations

UP NEXT

US to Pull Some Personnel From the Middle East Amid Rising Tensions With Iran

UP NEXT

Most G7 Members Ready to Lower Russian Oil Price Cap Without US

UP NEXT

Air India Plane Crash: Reactions From Across the World

UP NEXT

UN Nuclear Watchdog Says Iran in Breach of Obligations, Iran Announces Counter-Measures

UP NEXT

Israel Strikes Hodeidah Port, Threatens Naval, Air Blockade

UP NEXT

Britain and Allies Sanction Israeli Far-Right Ministers for ‘Inciting Violence’

Fresno Fire’s Helmet Cam Catches Blaze Raging on House, Occupants Escape Safely

4 hours ago

Derek Carr Says Fresno Is Home, as City Honors Bulldog Great

4 hours ago

Fresno Councilmember Warns of Possible ICE Raid at Popular Outdoor Market

5 hours ago

Americans Split on Trump’s Use of Military in Immigration Protests, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

5 hours ago

Clovis Police Still Searching for Missing At-Risk Man

5 hours ago

Fresno Unified Spends Thousands to Reprint Diplomas With Misty Her’s New Title

6 hours ago

Another Dozen Migrants Are Transferred to Guantánamo

6 hours ago

Former California Corrections Sergeant Indicted on Child Porn Charges

6 hours ago

Israel Could Strike Iran as Soon as Sunday, WSJ Reports

6 hours ago

Trump Promises Immigration Order Soon on Farm and Leisure Workers

7 hours ago

Judge Temporarily Bars Trump From Deploying National Guard Troops in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES – A U.S. judge on Thursday temporarily barred President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops in Los Angeles, ...

2 hours ago

Law enforcement officers guard Los Angeles City Hall during a protest against federal immigration sweeps, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 12, 2025. (Reuters/David Ryder)
2 hours ago

Judge Temporarily Bars Trump From Deploying National Guard Troops in Los Angeles

3 hours ago

Israel Attacks Iran’s Capital With Explosions Booming Across Tehran

The Firestone Incident near Highway 198 and Firestone Avenue in Coalinga has grown to 50 acres with a critical rate of spread, prompting evacuation orders for Zone P19, warnings for multiple surrounding zones, and a road closure, according to CalFire. (X/CalFire)
4 hours ago

Fresno County Wildfire Threatens Thousands of Acres. Evacuation Orders, Warnings Issued

A late-night fire heavily damaged a Fresno home on on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, but all six occupants escaped safely with no injuries. (Fresno FD)
4 hours ago

Fresno Fire’s Helmet Cam Catches Blaze Raging on House, Occupants Escape Safely

4 hours ago

Derek Carr Says Fresno Is Home, as City Honors Bulldog Great

5 hours ago

Fresno Councilmember Warns of Possible ICE Raid at Popular Outdoor Market

U.S. Marines stand with their packs and weapons, as protests against federal immigration sweeps continue, in greater Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 9, 2025, in this screen grab taken from a handout video. (DVIDS/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo)
5 hours ago

Americans Split on Trump’s Use of Military in Immigration Protests, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

Mark Kismet, 50, who is considered at-risk went missing on Friday, June 6, 2025, in Clovis near Harlan Ranch is still missing according to the Clovis Police Department on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Clovis PD)
5 hours ago

Clovis Police Still Searching for Missing At-Risk Man

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend