Overview
- Iran’s judiciary announced on Tuesday that Abolfazl Sepahi Badjani and Amir‑Hossein Safari Hosseinabadi were publicly hanged in Isfahan for their alleged roles in the January 8 clashes at Alikhani/Shahid Alikhani Square.
- State media and the judiciary said the men were convicted of violent acts including attacking security personnel and setting them on fire, and were charged with moharebeh, a religious term meaning "enmity against God" that carries the death penalty.
- Witnesses and rights groups reported that crowds gathered at the scaffold in an attempt to stop the executions and were dispersed by security forces before the hangings took place.
- UN human rights experts and multiple NGOs have condemned the sentences, saying the trials were closed, relied on televised or forced confessions, denied independent counsel, and violated fair‑trial standards.
- The executions add to a sharp rise in politically linked death sentences this year in Iran, with rights groups tracking hundreds of executions in 2026 and warning the practice may be used to deter further protests and silence dissent.