Iran set to execute first protester amid crackdown on anti-regime demonstrations
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Iran is reportedly preparing to execute the first protester in connection with mass arrests for widespread anti-regime demonstrations, according to human rights groups.
NGO group Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) and the National League for Democracy of Iran (NUFD) said 26-year-old Erfan Soltani was scheduled to be executed by hanging on Wednesday after his arrest during protests in Karaj last week.
“His family was told that he had been sentenced to death and that the sentence would be carried out on January 14,” sources told IHRNGO.
“The widespread killing of civilian protesters by the Islamic Republic in recent days is reminiscent of the regime’s crimes in the 1980s, which were deemed crimes against humanity,” IHRNGO Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement. he said.
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On January 8, 2026, fires were lit as protesters gathered in Tehran, Iran. (Getty Images)
“The risk of mass and extrajudicial killings of protesters is extremely serious,” the statement said. “Under the Responsibility to Protect, the international community has a duty to protect civilian protesters against mass atrocities committed by the Islamic Republic and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. We call on people and civil society in democratic countries to remind their governments of this responsibility.”
NUFD calls for international support to halt Sultani’s execution and emphasizes that his “only crime is calling for freedom for Iran.”
“Be his voice,” he wrote to Group X.
According to the NUFD, Soltani was allegedly denied access to a lawyer.
According to The US Sun, Sultani was accused of “waging war against God”, a crime punishable by death in Iran.
Soltani’s alleged execution has yet to be independently verified amid a communications blackout as the country’s leaders seek to suppress dissent.
More than 10,000 people have reportedly been arrested in recent weeks for participating in anti-government protests sparked by Iran’s collapsing economy, according to human rights groups, and as the demonstrations continue many people have begun to demand a complete regime change.
An overturned car is seen in Tehran, Iran, on January 8, 2026. (Getty Images)
Human rights groups said Tehran’s crackdown on demonstrations also led to more than 500 deaths.
US President Donald Trump warned Tehran on Friday that the US military would respond to violence against protesters, saying “they better not start shooting, because we will start shooting too.”
“Iran is looking at FREEDOM perhaps like never before. USA is ready to help!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.
The White House confirmed Monday that Trump is weighing whether to bomb Iran.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that diplomacy remains Trump’s first option, but that the president “has shown that he is not afraid to use military options if he deems it necessary.”
“He definitely doesn’t want to see people being killed on the streets of Tehran. And unfortunately that’s what we’re seeing right now,” he added.
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A masked protester holds a photo of Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
But many Congressional lawmakers, including some from the Republican Party, criticized the president’s threat to bomb Iran; many argued that he needed approval from Congress under the Constitution, that the United States should not become involved in another foreign issue, and that military intervention could rally Iranian protesters behind the Ayatollah.
“We wish them the best,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Sunday. “We hope for the best of freedom and liberation around the world, but I don’t think it’s the American government’s job to get involved in every freedom movement in the world… If you bomb the government, you’re going to have to rally people who are angry at the Ayatollah to their flag and then say, ‘God, can’t we let a foreign government invade or bomb our country?’ do you think? “It gets people involved in the cause.”
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“Also, there is a paradox in the Constitution that we cannot allow presidents to bomb countries whenever they want,” he added. “They need to ask the public for permission through Congress.”
While Iranian officials threatened to retaliate against US troops in the region if the Pentagon was attacked, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was “fully prepared for war”.
