Overview
- Erfan Kiani, whose death sentence the Supreme Court upheld, was hanged Saturday, the judiciary said.
- Officials called him a main operative on a Mossad assignment during protests in Isfahan and accused him of arson, property damage, Molotov use, carrying a blade, blocking roads, and attacks on officers.
- Authorities say the January protests were driven by Israel, the United States, and banned opposition groups, casting the prosecutions as national security cases.
- The execution followed the April 23 hanging of a man convicted of membership in a banned opposition group, continuing a recent string of capital cases linked to unrest.
- Human rights groups say Iran holds closed-door trials that curb defense rights and note the country is the world’s second-most frequent user of the death penalty after China.