Iran Executes 2 Prisoners in Sanandaj Central Prison

Protesters carrying a photo of Mahsa Amini during a march against the regime in Iran (Reuters)
Protesters carrying a photo of Mahsa Amini during a march against the regime in Iran (Reuters)
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Iran Executes 2 Prisoners in Sanandaj Central Prison

Protesters carrying a photo of Mahsa Amini during a march against the regime in Iran (Reuters)
Protesters carrying a photo of Mahsa Amini during a march against the regime in Iran (Reuters)

Two prisoners were executed at Sanandaj Central Prison on a charge of "intentional murder," according to Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.

Iran recorded a significant increase in death sentences and executions of demonstrators.

Widespread protests spread in Iran after the death of Mahsa Aymani, who was arrested by the morality police in Tehran in September 2022.

On Friday, the Iranian Human Rights Organization said that authorities issued 18 death sentences, including six women, and will be carried out in the coming days.

It announced that prison authorities informed the 18 prisoners, including two women in the Dastgerd prison in Isfahan and four others in the Dolat Abad women's prison.

Among the inmates was Samira Abbasi, a child bride who was sentenced to death for the premeditated murder of her husband.

Iran International reported that Iran is among the countries that have the highest number of executions in the world every year.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned Friday of the "dramatic escalation" of executions in Iran in recent weeks, saying it is a "serious violation of the right to life and should bring international condemnation."

The Beirut branch of the human rights organization announced that Iran witnessed during the past two weeks at least 60 executions, including an Iranian-Swedish national, on alleged terror-related charges.

Many of them were executed after unfair trials or for charges such as drug offenses and two executions for "blasphemy," that under international law should never result in the death penalty.

The director of the Iran Human Rights Organization, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, warned of the unprecedented wave of executions in Iran, especially among women.

Amiry-Moghaddam called on the international community to "stop the killing machine," warning that hundreds of people will be victims of this regime in the coming months.

An informed source told the organization that two men and two women were informed of the date of their execution in Dastgerd Prison. They were sentenced to retribution on charges of premeditated murder.

He added that 14 other prisoners were sentenced to death on drug-related charges.



Death Toll from US Winter Storms Grows to 14

HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
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Death Toll from US Winter Storms Grows to 14

HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The death toll from powerful winter storms in the central and eastern United States has risen to at least 14, officials said Monday, after floods, gale-force winds and bitterly cold temperatures swept the region.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Monday of a winter storm system carrying arctic air that would cause "record cold," with wind chill expected to hit as low as -60 degrees Fahrenheit (-51 degrees Celsius) in Montana and North Dakota.

"I've got more tough news. The death toll in Kentucky has now risen to 12," said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear in a social media post on Monday, raising the toll from eight a day earlier.

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said on Monday his state had also seen at least one death from the weather, AFP reported.

"We have one confirmed fatality at this time," he told a press briefing, warning that further flooding was expected. "There are still several people who are missing."

In addition, one person died in the southern city of Atlanta, Georgia. The victim was killed when an "extremely large" tree fell on his house early Sunday, fire official Scott Powell told local media.

Most of the dead in Kentucky, Beshear said in an earlier news conference, drowned when trapped in their vehicles by fast-rising floodwaters. The victims included a mother and her child.

The governor urged people to stay off roads across the state, where local and federal authorities have declared a state of emergency.

Beshear said more than 1,000 people had been rescued by first responders within 24 hours.

In its Monday advisory, the NWS warned that the cold weather system would impact a vast area, sending temperatures tumbling in the central plains, the eastern seaboard and as far south as the Gulf coast.

"A bitter cold arctic airmass is expected to continue impacting the north-central US while also spreading further south and east over the next few days," the advisory said.

Power to thousands of homes had been restored by Monday, but more than 50,000 customers remained without electricity in the states of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to monitoring website poweroutage.us.