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Iran Hangs Another Protester as Dozens More Risk Execution

A woman rides a bicycle as others cross a street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP)
A woman rides a bicycle as others cross a street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Hangs Another Protester as Dozens More Risk Execution

A woman rides a bicycle as others cross a street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP)
A woman rides a bicycle as others cross a street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP)

Iran on Monday executed a man on charges related to protests this year, the latest in a spree of hangings on political or security accusations since the start of the US-Israeli war with dozens more risking execution, rights groups said. 

Some three dozen men have been hanged on charges related to protests, membership of banned opposition groups, or espionage since wartime executions resumed in March, according to rights groups. 

The latest man to be hanged was Abbas Akbari, who was accused of attacking an official building in Nain in the central province of Isfahan during the peak of the protest movement in January. 

"The primary purpose of these executions is to instill fear in society and prevent future protests," said the director of Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam. 

He added the surge in executions has resulted in no "serious political consequences for" Iran. 

"Unless the political cost of executions increases, we are likely to witness the continuation, and even escalation of daily executions in the weeks and months ahead," he said. 

The Hengaw group, also based in Norway, described the execution as "a clear example of state-sanctioned killing aimed at intimidating society and suppressing the people's legitimate right to protest". 

The judiciary's Mizan Online website described Akbari as "one of the armed leaders" of protests in his region. 

IHR and Hengaw said Iran has now executed 15 people on charges related to the 2026 protests since the war began. Another man was also executed in the same period on charges connected to protests in 2022. 

Thirteen men have also been hanged over links to banned opposition groups including the outlawed People's Muhajedin of Iran (PMOI or its Persian acronym MEK) but also proscribed Kurdish and Baluch organizations. 

Nine men have meanwhile been executed on espionage charges, according to IHR. 

Iran on Sunday hanged Mojtaba Kian on espionage charges after convicting him of sharing information during the war, Mizan said. His execution was the first on charges linked to this war. 

IHR also said on Wednesday that two Iraqi men had been hanged on espionage charges. Their hanging has not been reported by media inside Iran. 

Amnesty International said on Thursday that at least 78 "protesters, dissidents and others with real or perceived links to banned opposition groups" are under sentence of death and at risk of execution. 

Hengaw said on Monday that a court had sentenced four defendants to death, and another four to prison terms in a case concerning the death of a member of the Basij militia in the Tehran district of Ekbatan in 2022. 

"The defendants were sentenced to death without access to lawyers or adequate opportunities to present their defense, despite substantial ambiguities and flaws in the case file," said Hengaw, adding they were at "serious risk of execution". 

Meanwhile the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the supreme court had overturned death sentences issued against Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl and his wife, Bita Hemmati, in a case connected to the January 2026 protests. 

Hemmati was the only woman so far known to have been sentenced to death in these protests. This latest development has yet to be confirmed by the Iranian judiciary. 

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World

Far-Right Triumph in Eastern Germany Leaves Migrants Questioning Their Future

A general view taken on September 7, 2026 in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, shows Saxony-Anhalt's State Parliament, the day after the state election. (AFP)
A general view taken on September 7, 2026 in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, shows Saxony-Anhalt's State Parliament, the day after the state election. (AFP)
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Far-Right Triumph in Eastern Germany Leaves Migrants Questioning Their Future

A general view taken on September 7, 2026 in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, shows Saxony-Anhalt's State Parliament, the day after the state election. (AFP)
A general view taken on September 7, 2026 in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, shows Saxony-Anhalt's State Parliament, the day after the state election. (AFP)

Mamad Mohamad watched with mixed emotions as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) swept to a historic victory on Sunday evening in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.

A member of the Greens, the 46-year-old is set to become one of the first lawmakers with an immigrant background to enter the state parliament, alongside Mustafa Groener of the Left (Die Linke) party.

For Mohamad, who arrived in Germany from Syria as a 16-year-old Yazidi Kurd in 1996, it was a milestone that should have been a moment of celebration. Instead, he described it as a "poisoned victory".

"My heart was split," Mohamad said, recalling the first projections that showed the AfD outperforming expectations ‌while Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ‌governing conservatives slumped to a historic low.

'CULTURALLY ALIEN'

The AfD has long ‌campaigned ⁠for tighter immigration ⁠and asylum policies, arguing that Germany has lost control of its borders and that migration is putting heavy pressure on public services, security and social cohesion.

According to its election manifesto, an AfD-led Saxony-Anhalt would launch a state-level campaign to deport rejected asylum seekers.

The party also proposes encouraging businesses to adopt artificial intelligence and automation rather than rely on skilled migration from what it describes as "culturally alien" backgrounds.

The AfD rejects accusations that its rhetoric contributes to a hostile climate for migrants, insisting it opposes only illegal and uncontrolled ⁠migration.

"Everyone is warmly welcome who contributes positively to our society, who ‌wants to work here, who is qualified, who pays taxes, ‌and who abides by the law," AfD co-leader Alice Weidel said on Monday.

PACKED BAGS

The mood in Mohamad's ‌family was somber on Monday.

His daughter, he said, was reluctant to attend school, one of ‌several criticized by the AfD over projects that examine threats to democracy.

Though anxiety is running high in many immigrant communities, the result has prompted unease rather than surprise, said Undra Dressler, managing director of the State Network of Migrant Organizations in Saxony-Anhalt.

People with migrant backgrounds have long faced discrimination and structural barriers in access ‌to work, education, healthcare and public services, Dressler said.

"All of this is our reality," she told Reuters.

Sunday's result nevertheless marks a turning ⁠point, she said. "There are ⁠many people in our communities who say: 'We've already packed our bags and have concrete plans, and we'll be leaving soon,' or, in some cases, have already left."

Pascal Begrich, managing director of democracy advocacy group Miteinander, said he did not expect a large-scale exodus, partly because of economic realities, but agreed that many migrants but also employers were reassessing their future in Saxony-Anhalt.

"There are companies asking themselves whether they really want to locate here and whether they can ensure their workers will be safe," Begrich told Reuters.

CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITS

Mohamad said he feared the political shift could make it harder to attract newcomers to a state already grappling with demographic decline.

"Skilled workers and families will look elsewhere," he said.

Despite concerns about the state's political direction, both Dressler and Begrich stressed that any future government would remain bound by Germany's constitutional order and protections for minorities.

"Every government is bound by this," Dressler said. "And the 15 other federal states have a duty to monitor this and, if necessary, to intervene."

World

Russia Announces the Closure of the German Consulate in St. Petersburg

A person walks past the German Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, Russia September 2, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Dmitry Vasilyev
A person walks past the German Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, Russia September 2, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Dmitry Vasilyev
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Russia Announces the Closure of the German Consulate in St. Petersburg

A person walks past the German Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, Russia September 2, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Dmitry Vasilyev
A person walks past the German Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, Russia September 2, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Dmitry Vasilyev

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that the German consulate in St. Petersburg will have to close, a tit-for-tat move that reflected the simmering tensions between the two countries.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the German consulate must stop operations by Sept. 18, following an earlier move by Moscow to close German cultural centers on its territory.

The ministry said the closure was in retaliation for Germany’s decision Wednesday to close both the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural center in the German capital, Berlin.

Germany blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport on Aug. 4, when an explosives-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian plane.

The airport is a major international freight hub used for providing support to Ukraine. The drone was later defused.

Moscow has denied involvement.

 

 

 

World

North Korea, Russia Open their First Road Bridge, a Symbol of Expanding Ties 

The first road bridge between Russia and North Korea across the Tumen River, locally known as Tumannaya, on the border with North Korea in the Primorsky region, Russia, in this still image from a video released September 7, 2026. Russian Government/Handout via REUTERS
The first road bridge between Russia and North Korea across the Tumen River, locally known as Tumannaya, on the border with North Korea in the Primorsky region, Russia, in this still image from a video released September 7, 2026. Russian Government/Handout via REUTERS
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North Korea, Russia Open their First Road Bridge, a Symbol of Expanding Ties 

The first road bridge between Russia and North Korea across the Tumen River, locally known as Tumannaya, on the border with North Korea in the Primorsky region, Russia, in this still image from a video released September 7, 2026. Russian Government/Handout via REUTERS
The first road bridge between Russia and North Korea across the Tumen River, locally known as Tumannaya, on the border with North Korea in the Primorsky region, Russia, in this still image from a video released September 7, 2026. Russian Government/Handout via REUTERS

North Korea and Russia opened their first road bridge on Monday in a carefully choreographed display of friendship, a structure which spans the Tumen river and which both sides cast as an important milestone in their deepening strategic partnership.

The first flag-adorned trucks trundled across the 1 km (0.6 mile) long two-lane bridge as Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and North Korea's Premier Pak Thae Song tuned in by video link to address workers and government officials from both countries.

Construction of the new bridge, which had been under discussion for years, began in April last year after the project was agreed during a visit by President Vladimir Putin to North Korea in 2024. There are already direct air and rail links between Moscow and Pyongyang, but until Monday there had not been a proper road link. Instead, since 1959 and by special arrangement, planks had been placed on the nearby rail bridge - for decades the sole border crossing point - in order to move vehicles across the border between the two countries.

"I am convinced that the expansion of cross-border transport infrastructure will provide a powerful impetus for the further development of trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation," said Mishustin, who said ties between Moscow and Pyongyang were "at an unprecedented high level" and called the opening of the bridge "a genuinely historic event."

The construction of the bridge was not merely an engineering project, he said, but "a new symbol of friendship".

Mishustin said up to 300 vehicles would be able to cross every day and that the bridge would be linked to Russia's federal road network and have easy access to the transport corridor which runs from the far eastern city of Vladivostok to St Petersburg. Trucks would begin to use the bridge immediately to transport cargo, the Russian government said. At the end of this year, the bridge would be fully operational and could be used for passenger traffic too.

The bridge was built near an existing "Friendship Bridge", a rail bridge which was commissioned in 1959 after the Korean war. Symbolically, the new bridge is named after Yakov Novichenko, a Red Army soldier who Pyongyang credits with protecting the life of North Korea's first leader Kim Il Sung in 1946 by intercepting a grenade thrown at him and others.

Ties between the two countries have grown stronger since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, with Pyongyang sending thousands of troops to Russia's Kursk region to help repel a 2024 Ukrainian incursion there.

Mishustin made a reference to that in his speech on Monday, referring to "the Korean heroes who, only recently, fought shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers and defended Russian soil".