Iran has executed three men accused of killing police officers during anti-government protests in January. Among them was teenager Saleh Mohammadi, a member of Iran's national wrestling team, according to reports from CBS. The executions took place on Thursday morning in the northern Qom province after the Supreme Court upheld their death sentences.
These protests, which began in December and peaked in January, were met with a violent crackdown by Iranian authorities. Rights groups allege that thousands were killed during this period, with at least 7,000 deaths reported, including many protesters and children.
Mohammadi, along with Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi, were convicted of killing two police officers in separate incidents in Qom. Their sentences were based on the charging of moharebeh, or waging war against God, a charge frequently levied against those opposing the Islamic Republic. Reports indicate that confessions were extracted through torture and that they were not given a fair trial.
The executions occurred just a day after Iran also executed Kouroush Keyvani, a dual Iranian-Swedish national convicted of espionage for Israel. The protests that sparked these executions originally stemmed from frustration over rising living costs and the collapse of the Iranian currency, quickly evolving into demands for major political reform.
Despite a near-total internet blackout during this period, many reports describe escalated violence by security forces, marking a severe challenge to the authority of the Iranian clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
