Iran to Hang Protester Amid Nationwide Unrest
Teheran: Iran will witness more brutality as the government decides to execute the first protester on Wednesday, amid mass arrests of anti-regime protesters, the New York Post reported, citing human rights groups.
According to Iran Human Rights (IHR) and the National Union for Democracy of Iran (NUFD), 26-year-old Erfan Soltani was allegedly planned to be executed by hanging after his arrest during protests in Karaj last Thursday (local time).
The NUFD reported that the man’s “only crime was calling for freedom for Iran.”
NUFD is also calling for international support to halt Sultani’s execution. He was denied access to legal counsel to defend himself, according to the New York Post.
Protesters were accused of “waging war against God”, a crime punishable by death under Iranian law.
According to the report published by the Human Rights Activists News Agency on Monday, a total of 614 protest meetings were recorded across the country by the end of the 17th day of protests.
These demonstrations took place in 187 cities in 31 provinces of the country.
The agency said 18,434 people have been confirmed to have been detained so far.
It was also reported that the deaths of 2,403 protesters were confirmed. Among the dead were 12 children under the age of 18.
Additionally, 147 members of the security forces and government supporters were killed, including at least five government supporters.
Meanwhile, amid ongoing protests, exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi appealed to protesters and the country’s armed forces on Tuesday (local time), asserting that the world had not only seen and heard the courage of the demonstrators, but had also “taken action”.
He called on citizens to continue the movement against Khamenei’s regime and warned that those responsible for the violence would eventually be held accountable.
In his video message shared on X, Pahlavi claimed that US President Donald Trump responded to the protests and that the voices of Iranians were heard beyond the country’s borders.
Addressing the protesters directly, Pahlavi said, “My fellow citizens, as I said in my previous message, the world not only sees and hears your courage and voice, it takes action. By now you have undoubtedly heard the message of the US President. Help is on the way.”
Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump said Iran was on his mind and that he had been briefed on the regime’s crackdown on protesters.
“We’re going to look at the whole situation that’s going on in Iran. It’s a really bad thing. But when I see the kind of death that’s happening there, I think of Iran. We’re going to get some accurate numbers on what’s going on in terms of murder,” Trump said at a press conference at Joint Base Andrews.
