Iran to execute first female protester from 2026 uprising
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Iran is preparing to execute the first female protester linked to the uprising in Tehran in January 2026, according to multiple human rights organizations.
Bita Hemmati’s name was sentenced to mass death along with three other defendants, including her husband Mohammed Reza Majid-Asl (34). based on Thank you to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
It was reported that the couple’s neighbors, Behrouz Zamaninejad and Kourosh Zamaninejad, were also sentenced to death, while relative Amir Hemmati was sentenced to five years in prison.
The verdicts mark some of the latest death penalty verdicts handed down amid a broader government crackdown to quell unrest. It has been reported that possibly thousands of protesters have been killed since the demonstrations broke out this year.
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Iranians gather by blocking the street during a protest in Tehran, Iran, on January 9, 2026. (MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
“Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl and Bita Hemmati are a couple living in Tehran, and Amir Hemmati is a relative of the two,” a source said. said HRANA. “Kurosh Zamaninejad and Behrouz Zamaninejad lived in the same building and their arrests took place at the same time.”
No execution date has been given yet.
The Tehran Revolutionary Court reportedly charged the defendants with numerous crimes, including disruption of national security in connection with the “hostile government of the United States,” according to HRANA.
According to federal authorities, the defendants allegedly used explosives and weapons to weaken security on January 8 and 9, threw concrete blocks and incendiaries from rooftops, injured security forces, and engaged in “anti-regime propaganda.”
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In this frame from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked protester holds a photo of Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, January 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In addition to the death penalty verdicts, the court also sentenced the defendants to five years of voluntary imprisonment and decided to confiscate their personal assets.
The fifth partner, Amir Hemmati, was specifically convicted of “meeting and collusion against national security” and “anti-regime propaganda”, officials said.
Human rights activists also expressed concerns that the defendants’ confessions may have been coerced, citing allegations of torture and interrogation.
Mourners hold photos of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Isfahan, Iran. (Payman Shahsanaei/ISNA via AP)
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The organizations calling for a halt to the executions also claimed that there was no concrete evidence linking the defendants to the alleged crimes, and claimed that Tehran was trying to intimidate the public in order to prevent future civil unrest.
Widespread protests first broke out in Tehran in late December 2025, amid an economic crisis marked by currency devaluation and rising inflation. Tensions then quickly grew into broader anti-government unrest that spread to many cities.
Washington officially joined the conflict on February 28, 2026, with the launch of Operation Epic Rage, in which it carried out major joint airstrikes with Israel that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
