Iran executed Mohammad Amini Dehaghani by hanging early on Wednesday, the judiciary announced, after the supreme court confirmed his death sentence for “moharebeh” (waging war against God) and “corruption on earth”. He was convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails at the governor’s office and central police station in Dehaghan, Isfahan province, on 9 January, during nationwide protests that began over the collapsing value of the rial and rapidly expanded into anti-government unrest. The execution is the third this week, following the hanging of two men convicted of Islamic State membership, and comes amid a documented acceleration in capital punishment since the US and Israel launched military operations against Iran on 28 February.

According to the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency, the conviction rested on CCTV footage and the defendant’s own confessions, in which he admitted to the arson attacks and to asking armed individuals for a stolen Kalashnikov rifle to fire on security forces. The authorities also accused him of disseminating anti-government propaganda, contacting opposition-linked social media accounts, and sharing images of military equipment. Human rights organisations and UN officials, however, have consistently documented that confessions in such cases are often extracted under torture, and that defendants are routinely denied access to independent legal counsel and fair trials. The UN special rapporteur on Iran, Mai Sato, has stated that Tehran uses the death penalty as a “tool to instil fear and suppress protests”. Rights groups based outside Iran, including Amnesty International, have described the judicial processes as lacking any prospect of justice and have called for international criminal accountability.

The execution forms part of a surge in capital punishment since the onset of the US-Israeli military campaign. The UN reported that at least 40 men, including 18 protesters, were executed in the first half of 2026. Norway-based Iran Human Rights and the group Together Against the Death Penalty recorded at least 1,639 executions in 2025, the highest annual figure since 1989. The December–January protests, triggered by the rial’s plunge to 1.42 million per US dollar and soaring inflation, were met with a lethal response from security forces. Iranian officials acknowledge around 3,000 deaths, while external monitors and US President Donald Trump have cited far higher tolls, with Trump claiming 53,000 killed. The judiciary has opened over 1,800 cases related to the protests in just three provinces, according to official figures released in June, though the total number of detainees is estimated by rights groups to be in the tens of thousands.

International bodies, including the UN human rights office and Amnesty International, have called for an immediate halt to executions of protesters and for independent investigations into alleged crimes against humanity. The Iranian judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, has publicly urged prosecutors to expedite cases linked to the war and the protests. With at least four more protesters reportedly facing confirmed death sentences, further executions are expected. The dossier remains under active monitoring by the UN Human Rights Council, and advocacy groups are pressing for accountability through international criminal justice mechanisms.