Iran Executes Two Men Accused of Leading Early 2026 Protests

Commuters make their way along the busy Sadeghiyeh Square in Tehran on May 31, 2026. (AFP)
Commuters make their way along the busy Sadeghiyeh Square in Tehran on May 31, 2026. (AFP)
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Iran Executes Two Men Accused of Leading Early 2026 Protests

Commuters make their way along the busy Sadeghiyeh Square in Tehran on May 31, 2026. (AFP)
Commuters make their way along the busy Sadeghiyeh Square in Tehran on May 31, 2026. (AFP)

Iran on Monday hanged two men convicted of ransacking and burning a mosque during anti-government protests that shook the country in December and January. 

Since war broke out with Israel and the United States in February, Iran has ramped up executions, with many of the convicts hanged over the earlier protests. 

"Mehrdad Mohammadinia and Ashkan Maleki, the main perpetrators of the arson attack and destruction of a mosque, were hanged this morning," Iran's judiciary announced through its Mizan news agency. 

The report did not specify the date of their arrest or trial. 

At the end of December, a protest movement in Iran sparked by anger over living costs quickly broadened into widespread anti-government demonstrations. 

The movement culminated on January 8 with huge protests that caused widespread damage. Violence over the course of the protests left several thousand people dead. 

Iranian authorities accused "terrorists" working for the United States and Israel of instigating the violence, but NGOs based abroad say Iranian security forces deliberately fired on protesters. 

"In the face of the threat of a military attack by the United States and the Zionist regime, the actions of these individuals... served as a pretext for the military aggression" in February, Mizan said, referring to the war. 

Iran is the world's second-most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups including Amnesty International. 

Authorities executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, a record since 1989, according to Iran Human Rights, an NGO based in Norway. 



Ukraine Says Received 501 Bodies from Russia

Russian soldiers in Crimea (Reuters - file photo)
Russian soldiers in Crimea (Reuters - file photo)
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Ukraine Says Received 501 Bodies from Russia

Russian soldiers in Crimea (Reuters - file photo)
Russian soldiers in Crimea (Reuters - file photo)

Ukraine has received 501 bodies from Russia believed to be those of fallen soldiers, authorities Thursday, in one of the few areas of cooperation between the warring neighbours.

"As a result of repatriation efforts, 501 bodies of the deceased have been returned to Ukraine, which, according to the Russian side, may belong to Ukrainian servicemen," Kyiv's prisoners of war centre said, AFP reported.

The Red Cross helped facilitate the exchange, it added.

Investigators and forensic experts will now identify the repatriated remains, the Ukrainian body said.

Russia received the bodies of 31 soldiers, Russian lawmaker Shamsail Saraliyev told the RBC news outlet.

Since Russia's 2022 invasion, exchanges of prisoners and the remains of fallen fighters have been one of the few areas of contact between Moscow and Kyiv.


UK Unveils Sanctions against Sudan Gold Networks

The Britain's national flag flies next to the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, in London, Britain, March 23, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra/ File Photo
The Britain's national flag flies next to the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, in London, Britain, March 23, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra/ File Photo
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UK Unveils Sanctions against Sudan Gold Networks

The Britain's national flag flies next to the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, in London, Britain, March 23, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra/ File Photo
The Britain's national flag flies next to the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, in London, Britain, March 23, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra/ File Photo

Britain on Thursday announced sanctions targeting what it said are "illicit gold and finance networks" propping up rival factions in Sudan's devastating civil war.

The foreign ministry said the war-torn country's gold trade worth billions of dollars was helping finance "weapons procurement, military operations and the activities of armed groups".

The sanctions are aimed at 11 individuals and businesses suspected of being linked to the networks financing and supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the regular army, AFP reported.

The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, that erupted in April 2023, has killed 200,000 people by some estimates and displaced upwards of 11 million.

"The people of Sudan continue to pay the price for a war fuelled not only by guns and fighters, but by illicit flows of gold and finance to fill the war chests on both sides," Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.

Africa's third-largest country is one of the continent's top gold producers, and the state Sudanese Mineral Resources Company reported a "five-year high" in production of 70 tonnes in 2025.

The United Nations on Wednesday said the rival factions were profiting from control over the country's resources and that a "war economy" was sustaining the conflict.

The UK has previously sanctioned senior commanders of the RSF, who have also been targeted by the European Union.

On Tuesday, the European Council had said it was also boosting sanctions.

In measures designed to "curb sources of financing for the conflict," the Council said it would ban "the purchase, import or transfer if gold originating in Sudan."


UN Atomic Chief Slams 'Unacceptable' Killing at Ukraine Power Plant

A picture showing a side of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is controlled by Russia in southeastern Ukraine (Reuters - Archival)
A picture showing a side of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is controlled by Russia in southeastern Ukraine (Reuters - Archival)
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UN Atomic Chief Slams 'Unacceptable' Killing at Ukraine Power Plant

A picture showing a side of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is controlled by Russia in southeastern Ukraine (Reuters - Archival)
A picture showing a side of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is controlled by Russia in southeastern Ukraine (Reuters - Archival)

The United Nations atomic agency's head has denounced the killing of the chief engineer of Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in a drone strike Moscow has blamed on Kyiv.

The head of Russian nuclear giant Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev said on Wednesday that Aleksandr Yakovlev died when "a drone belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces" hit a service vehicle near the flashpoint power station. Ukraine did not immediately comment on the case.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi "condemns the reported incident which he says represents an unacceptable attack on the plant and its management, seriously threatening nuclear safety", the watchdog posted late on Wednesday on X.

"The IAEA calls for an immediate end to all attacks on or near nuclear sites and their staff," it added.

Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had urged the agency to condemn the alleged "murder".

Likhachev said in a post on Rosatom's Telegram account that Yakovlev "devoted his entire life to nuclear energy and he died, in effect, at his combat post".

A driver was also killed in the attack, he said.

The Telegram accounts of the plant and Rosatom have never previously mentioned Yakovlev.

Normally, the plant's Moscow-appointed director Yuri Chernichuk, a former chief engineer at the plant, speaks publicly.

Russian troops captured the Zaporizhzhia plant in March 2022, shortly after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The plant is the largest in Europe and its safety has been a recurring source of concern throughout the long-running conflict.

Both sides regularly accuse the other of carrying out strikes on the site, which is located in Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro river, which marks the frontline in the area.