Overview
- Iran’s judiciary announced that Shahram Sadeghi was executed after being convicted of driving into police during January protests and of carrying out an operational act in support of Israel and the United States, according to state media.
- Authorities say Sadeghi wounded several officers in Karaj during protests that began in late December over the high cost of living and peaked in early January.
- Human rights groups and UN experts have warned about a sharp rise in executions, closed hearings, televised or coerced confessions, and denial of independent counsel in trials tied to the protests.
- Rights monitors say executions have climbed since the regionwide conflict began in late February and that Iranian officials are increasingly using foreign‑collaboration and national security laws to broaden death‑penalty cases.
- Independent groups recorded a post‑1989 high of about 1,639 executions last year and report hundreds more death sentences and executions this year, a trend that families and activists say has deep human costs and risks fuelling further unrest.