Iran kills two more men connected to the protests

Iran hanged two men on Saturday for the murder of a paramilitary force member during historic riots brought on by the death of a young woman while in detention.

The most recent hangings bring the total number of executions since the statewide demonstrations began in mid-September and escalated into demands for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical rule to four.

In December, two individuals were executed, resulting in widespread anger and fresh Western sanctions against Iran

“Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, the principal offenders of the crime that resulted in Ruhollah Ajamian’s martyrdom, were hung this morning,” according to judicial news source Mizan Online.

According to the prosecution, the 27-year-old militiaman was killed while naked by a group of people who had been paying respects to Hadis Najafi, a dead protester.

The two men’s lives are being spared despite a campaign by international rights organizations against the killings. The father of Karami had also pleaded with the court not to execute his son.

The director of the Oslo-based organization Iran Human Rights (IHR), Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, claimed that both men “were subjected to torture and sentenced after sham trials…without the minimal norms for due process.”

After the most recent executions, he demanded more international action along with other campaigners.

Amiry-Moghaddam recommended “new and tougher sanctions against individuals and entities” specifically on Twitter.

In response to the surge of protests that started after Mahsa Amini, 22, died while being held in detention in September, authorities have detained thousands of people.

The morality police allegedly defied the tight dress rules for women under the regime when they detained the Iranian Kurdish woman.