Iran has executed three men accused of killing police officers during anti-government protests in January, state media report, indicating this is the first instance of hangings related to such civil unrest.
Among those executed was 17-year-old Saleh Mohammadi, identified as a member of Iran's national wrestling team, according to sources that spoke to CBS, the BBC's US partner.
The executions occurred Thursday morning local time in Qom province after the Supreme Court upheld their sentences, as reported by Iran's Tasnim news agency.
The nationwide protests began in December and significantly escalated in January, prompting a violent crackdown by Iranian authorities prompting human rights organizations to report thousands of deaths.
Tasnim, a semi-official outlet linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated that Mohammadi, along with Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi, were guilty of killing two police officers in distinct assaults in Qom.
Additionally, they were convicted of 'moharebeh,' or waging war against God—a charge often used for executing dissenters against the Islamic Republic.
Rights groups allege the three men confessed under duress and received no fair trial. Their execution follows another recent case where dual Iranian-Swedish national Kouroush Keyvani was hanged after being convicted of espionage for Israel.
The protests, fueled by economic despair over the collapsing Iranian currency and rising living costs, quickly spiraled to include calls for political change, emerging as one of the most significant challenges to Iran's clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution.
Despite intense censorship and communication blackouts, rights organizations reported at least 7,000 people, including many children, were killed during the recent crackdown, with eyewitness accounts detailing brutal police actions against the demonstrators.
