Iran confirms death sentences for pair of demonstrators charged with torching law enforcement personnel

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Iran’s judiciary announced that two men were hanged on Sunday over charges relating to anti-government protests that peaked in January, having begun a month earlier over economic grievances.

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The two men, Erfan Esfandiari and Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, were found guilty of “tying police officers to a road sign with ropes, injuring them with stones, dousing them with gasoline, and setting them on fire” in the central city of Isfahan, said the judiciary.

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The indictment stated that the two individuals had “filmed the scene of the killing and transmitted the footage to television channels” abroad.

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The statement did not specify the dates of their arrest or trial, and did not give the men’s ages.

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In late December, a protest movement initially sparked by the high cost of living rapidly evolved into widespread anti-government demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9.

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Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts” orchestrated by the United States and Israel, while foreign-based NGOs maintain that security forces fired on protesters.

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US President Donald Trump had threatened at the time to intervene militarily in Iran, before the US and Israel launched a joint attack on the country on February 28, triggering the Middle East war.

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Since then, arrests and executions have multiplied in the country, linked both to the conflict and to the protests that took place earlier in the year.

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In 2025, the authorities executed at least 1,639 people, the largest number for any year since 1989, according to the NGOs Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM).

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According to Amnesty International, Iran is responsible for the second most executions of any country, after China.

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