ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities executed another protester on Monday who had been detained during anti-government protests in January, during which security forces killed thousands of protesters.
State media reported that Abbas Akbari Feyzabadi, from the town of Nain in Isfahan province, was hanged early Monday after being convicted of waging war against God by taking up arms against the state.
Iran regularly executes people on charges that human rights organizations say are trumped up, including cooperation with Israel and the US. Iranian security forces systematically use torture and degrading treatment to force prisoners to make self-incriminating confessions on video, which are then broadcast on TV to justify their execution.
The primary evidence against Akbari was his confession, according to state media. The confession was obtained under torture, according to human rights organisations.
“Abbas Akbari Feyzabadi was one of the armed leaders of the unrest in the city of Nain, Isfahan province. He played an important role in the attack on the county governor’s office, security centers, and public service facilities. Using a handgun he was carrying, he and a number of other rioters attacked the Naein governor’s office and opened fire on security forces,” Iran state media said referring to anti government protesters as “rioters”.
The Islamic Republic defines itself as the embodiment of God’s authority on earth, and anyone who takes up arms against it is charged with waging war against God.
The executions of protesters and political prisoners come at a time that Iran and the US are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding in which the issue sof human rights has not been discussed.
Iran has long used the death penalty as a tool of state repression and to stifle dissent. Rights groups say authorities have executed at least 36 political prisoners since the start of the war on February 28, with at least 78 other political prisoners at risk of imminent execution.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that Iran carried out 2,063 executions in 2025 - the highest number recorded in around three and a half decades. Two human rights organizations have warned that if the current regime stays in power, it could carry out another mass execution of prisoners detained during the January protests and the recent war.
Amnesty International said on Thursday that the Islamic Republic authorities have “weaponised the death penalty to repress dissent,” with senior government and judiciary officials calling for expedited proceedings to punish those detained since the January protests.