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Dubai: Iran on Monday executed two men convicted of a crime RowingAuthorities said they carried out rare death sentences for the crime, as executions surge across the Islamic Republic after months of unrest.
Iran remains one of the world’s largest executioners, with at least 203 prisoners executed since the beginning of this year alone, according to the Oslo-based Iranian Human Rights Organization. But executions for blasphemy remain rare, as in previous cases authorities have commuted sentences.
The two men, Yosef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli ZareHe died in Arak prison in central Iran. They were arrested in May 2020, accused of being involved in a channel on the messaging app Telegram called “Critique of Superstition and Religion,” according to US Commission on International Religious Freedom. The committee said that the two men faced solitary confinement for months and were unable to contact their families.
Mizan, an agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, confirmed the executions, describing the two men as having insulted the Islamic prophet Muhammad and in support of atheism.
Mizan also accused them of burning the Koran, Islam’s holy book, although it was not clear if the men had done so or such images had been posted to the Telegram channel.
Mahmoud Amiri Moghadam, who heads the Organization for Human Rights in Iran, denounced the executions as revealing the “medieval nature” of Iran’s clerical rule.
“The international community must show by its reaction that executions for expression of opinion are intolerable,” he said in a statement. “The international community’s refusal to respond decisively is a green light for the United States Iranian government And all like-minded people around the world.
It was not immediately clear when Iran carried out its last execution for blasphemy. Other countries in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, also allow death sentences for blasphemy.
The string of executions, including of members of Iran’s ethnic minorities, comes as months of protests over the death of 22-year-old Mohsa Amini following her arrest by the country’s morality police have cooled.
Indeed, at least four people accused of alleged crimes from the demonstrations have already been executed. The protests, which reportedly saw more than 500 people killed and 19,000 arrested, were one of the biggest challenges to the Iranian theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In 2022, Iran executed at least 582 people, up from 333 in 2021, according to Iranian Human Rights. Amnesty International’s latest report on executions put Iran with the second highest number of executions in the world, behind only China, where thousands are believed to be executed each year.
Iran remains one of the world’s largest executioners, with at least 203 prisoners executed since the beginning of this year alone, according to the Oslo-based Iranian Human Rights Organization. But executions for blasphemy remain rare, as in previous cases authorities have commuted sentences.
The two men, Yosef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli ZareHe died in Arak prison in central Iran. They were arrested in May 2020, accused of being involved in a channel on the messaging app Telegram called “Critique of Superstition and Religion,” according to US Commission on International Religious Freedom. The committee said that the two men faced solitary confinement for months and were unable to contact their families.
Mizan, an agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, confirmed the executions, describing the two men as having insulted the Islamic prophet Muhammad and in support of atheism.
Mizan also accused them of burning the Koran, Islam’s holy book, although it was not clear if the men had done so or such images had been posted to the Telegram channel.
Mahmoud Amiri Moghadam, who heads the Organization for Human Rights in Iran, denounced the executions as revealing the “medieval nature” of Iran’s clerical rule.
“The international community must show by its reaction that executions for expression of opinion are intolerable,” he said in a statement. “The international community’s refusal to respond decisively is a green light for the United States Iranian government And all like-minded people around the world.
It was not immediately clear when Iran carried out its last execution for blasphemy. Other countries in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, also allow death sentences for blasphemy.
The string of executions, including of members of Iran’s ethnic minorities, comes as months of protests over the death of 22-year-old Mohsa Amini following her arrest by the country’s morality police have cooled.
Indeed, at least four people accused of alleged crimes from the demonstrations have already been executed. The protests, which reportedly saw more than 500 people killed and 19,000 arrested, were one of the biggest challenges to the Iranian theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In 2022, Iran executed at least 582 people, up from 333 in 2021, according to Iranian Human Rights. Amnesty International’s latest report on executions put Iran with the second highest number of executions in the world, behind only China, where thousands are believed to be executed each year.
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