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Iran’s judiciary said it executed a man early Saturday after finding him guilty of opening fire on security personnel during the nationwide unrest sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini nearly three years ago.
The man, identified as 31-year-old Mehran Bahramian, was accused of being part of a group that attacked a vehicle carrying security forces in the city of Semirom, in Isfahan province, on December 31, 2022. According to Mizan Online, the judiciary’s official news outlet, the ambush killed officer Mohsen Rezaei and left others wounded.
Bahramian was convicted by the Revolutionary Court of Isfahan on charges of moharebeh — “waging war against God” — a capital offense under Iran’s penal code. The court also accused him of encouraging assaults on state institutions and personnel, portraying him in its reporting as a “thug.” His sentence was reviewed and upheld by the Supreme Court before his execution was carried out at dawn, Mizan said.
Read also: Iran Vows Stronger Response If Attacked Again By US, Israel
The Semirom shooting occurred in the final weeks of a protest wave that engulfed the country after Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died in the custody of the morality police in September 2022. Her death triggered months of demonstrations that authorities met with mass arrests, prosecutions, and a heavy security crackdown.
Several people detained during those protests have since faced the death penalty. In June this year, Iran hanged Abbas Kurkuri after convicting him of killing seven people amid the unrest. Rights groups say the executions are meant to send a message of deterrence, even as families of the condemned continue to appeal for clemency.
Amnesty International and other monitors have repeatedly ranked Iran as the world’s second-highest executioner, after China.
