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Iran
Mojtaba Kian, accused of cooperating with the US and Israel, was executed in Iran on May 24, 2026. Photo: Tasnim News Agency
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities executed another man accused of cooperating with the US and Israel on Sunday, as part of a crackdown that has seen dozens executed since the start of the war, with US President Donald Trump widely expected to announce a 60-day ceasefire extension.
Mojtaba Kian was hanged at dawn on Sunday for sending “multiple messages to hostile networks affiliated with the Zionist-American enemy,” Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported. “These reportedly included coordinates and information about facilities producing parts related to the country’s defense industries.”
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.
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.
Iran's police chief said Monday that at least 6,500 people have been arrested since the beginning of the war for cooperation with Israel and the US, charges that could carry the death penalty.
The arrests and executions come as authorities in Tehran have cut off the Iranian population from the international internet for 13 weeks, imposing the longest digital blackout ever enforced by a state.
Kian’s execution came at a time when Trump is expected to announce a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tehran to establish a 60-day ceasefire extension and end hostilities. According to media reports, the MoU does not include any clause on human rights violations against the people of Iran and is focused on ending the hostilities and the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
On Thursday, Amnesty International warned about the looming human rights crisis and called for urgent action. “Since the US-Israeli unlawful attacks on Iran began on 28 February 2026, Iranian authorities have arbitrarily executed at least 36 individuals sentenced to death after being convicted of politically-motivated charges following grossly unfair trials.”
“At least 78 protesters, dissidents, and others with real or perceived links to banned opposition groups are under sentence of death and at risk of execution,” the watchdog said. “Fears of further executions are heightened as Iranian authorities continue to weaponize the death penalty to repress dissent and senior officials call for expedited proceedings and “harsh” penalties against those arrested since the war started.”
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