Iran Executes Two More Men in Connection with Protests

FILE PHOTO:  A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by Iran's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 19, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by Iran's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 19, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Iran Executes Two More Men in Connection with Protests

FILE PHOTO:  A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by Iran's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 19, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by Iran's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 19, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran executed two men on Saturday for killing a paramilitary force member during unprecedented protests sparked by the death in custody of a young woman.

The latest hangings double the number of executions to four over the protests, which escalated into calls for an end to Iran's clerical regime, AFP said.

Two men were put to death in December, sparking global outrage and new Western sanctions against Iran.

Judicial news agency Mizan Online on Saturday reported "Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, the main perpetrators of the crime that led to the martyrdom of Ruhollah Ajamian, were hanged this morning."

The court of first instance had sentenced the two men to death in early December, it said.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence of capital punishment, accusing them of killing Ajamian on November 3.

The victim belonged to the Basij militia -- linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps -- who died in Karaj, west of Tehran.

Prosecutors previously said the 27-year-old was stripped naked and killed by a group of mourners who had been paying tribute to a slain protester, Hadis Najafi.

The hangings come in defiance of a campaign by international rights groups for the lives of the two men to be spared.

Amnesty International had decried the "fast-tracked unfair group trial" of the two men which it said bore no "resemblance to a meaningful judicial proceeding".

Mohammad Mehdi Karami's father had told Iranian media that a family lawyer had not been able to access his son's case file.

Karami was 22, according to Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR). Hosseini's age was not immediately clear.

Authorities have arrested thousands of people in the wave of demonstrations that began with the September death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22.

The Iranian Kurdish woman had been arrested by morality police for allegedly breaching the regime's strict dress code for women.

The courts have sentenced 14 people to death over the demonstrations, according to an AFP count based on official information.

- Fears for others -
Four have now been executed, two others have had their sentences confirmed by the Supreme Court, six are awaiting new trials and two others can appeal.

Dozens of other protesters face charges punishable by death, IHR said in late December.

The latest executions were the first linked to the protests in almost a month.

On December 12 Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was hanged publicly from a crane. He had been sentenced to death by a court in the city of Mashhad for killing two members of the security forces with a knife, and wounding four other people, Mizan reported.

Rahnavard's execution came despite the widespread international anger sparked by the first announced execution four days earlier.

Mohsen Shekari, also 23, was executed on charges of wounding a member of the security forces.

In late December the US Treasury Department sanctioned Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, saying he was responsible for human rights abuses including torture and death-penalty trials of protesters.

The Treasury said the case of Shekari bore "little resemblance to a meaningful trial".

On December 12 new European Union sanctions targeted Iranian officials including hardline cleric Seyed Ahmad Khatami. He was included on the list for inciting violence against protesters, including demanding the death penalty. 



UN Nuclear Chief in Tehran ahead of Fresh Iran-US Talks

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during a press conference on the opening day of his agency's quarterly Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, March 3, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during a press conference on the opening day of his agency's quarterly Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, March 3, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl
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UN Nuclear Chief in Tehran ahead of Fresh Iran-US Talks

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during a press conference on the opening day of his agency's quarterly Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, March 3, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during a press conference on the opening day of his agency's quarterly Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, March 3, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi met the head of Iran's atomic energy agency, Mohammad Eslami, on Thursday ahead of a fresh round of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.

Iranian and US delegations are to gather in Rome on Saturday for a second round of Omani-mediated negotiations, a week after the longtime foes held their highest-level talks since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018, AFP said.

There were no immediate details on Grossi's meeting with Eslami, but Iran's reformist Shargh newspaper described his visit as "strategically significant at the current juncture".

On Wednesday, Grossi met with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led the first round of talks with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday.

Araghchi said he had had a "useful" meeting with the International Atomic Energy Agency chief.

"The IAEA can play a crucial role in peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear file in the coming months," he said.

Araghchi called on the IAEA chief to "keep the agency away from politics" in the face of "spoilers" seeking to "derail current negotiations". He did not elaborate.

Grossi said their meeting was "important".

"Cooperation with IAEA is indispensable to provide credible assurances about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program at a time when diplomacy is urgently needed," he said on X.

'Not far' from possessing bomb

Before heading to Iran, Grossi told French newspaper Le Monde that Tehran was "not far" from possessing a nuclear bomb.

Western governments have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire a nuclear weapons capability, an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.

A year after Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran began rolling back its own commitments under the agreement, which gave it relief from sanctions in return for IAEA-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.

In its latest report, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms (605 pounds) of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent.

That level far exceeds the 3.67 percent enrichment ceiling set by the 2015 deal, but still falls short of the 90 percent threshold required for a nuclear warhead.

Since he returned to office in January, Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" policy of punishing economic sanctions against Iran.

In March, he sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei urging talks and warning of possible military action if Iran refused.

On Thursday, the New York Times reported that Trump had blocked an Israeli plan to strike Iranian nuclear facilities in favor of seeking a negotiated deal.

'Conflicting positions'

On Tuesday, Khamenei cautioned that while the talks with the United States had started well, they could yet prove fruitless.

"The negotiations may or may not yield results," he said.

On Wednesday, Araghchi said Iran's enrichment of uranium was not up for discussion after Witkoff called for a halt.

Witkoff had previously demanded only that Iran return to the 3.67 percent enrichment ceiling set by the 2015 deal.

Araghchi said he hoped to start negotiations on the framework of a possible agreement, but that this required "constructive positions" from the United States.

"If we continue to (hear) contradictory and conflicting positions, we are going to have problems," he warned.

On Thursday, Iran's top diplomat headed to Moscow on a "pre-planned" visit to the Tehran ally.

The Kremlin said that Russia stood ready to do "everything" in its power to help resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear program.