Iran executes three participants of the January protests in Karaj

According to the state-run Tasnim agency, Iran has executed Hasan Deyoband, Hamid Qazemi and Reza Zanganeh, who were accused of armed riots in Karaj in January. The executions continue a series of protest-related verdicts, whose number has been growing since late February.

Aziz KarimovFirst published on tafs uz 8 November 2026 at 22:212 min read

The key facts

Three men executed over accusations of attacking facilities in Karaj in January 2026
The Supreme Court found them guilty of acting on behalf of Israel and the US
According to the UN, at least 56 people have been executed since 19 March on national security-related charges

Executions following the January protests

Iran has executed three men accused of taking part in armed riots during January's anti-government protests. According to the state-run Tasnim news agency, those executed were Hasan Deyoband, Hamid Qazemi and Reza Zanganeh. They were accused of throwing Molotov cocktails and grenades, using bladed and firearms, and setting fire to public facilities in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, including an electrical substation whose failure caused power outages in a number of districts.

Charges and verdict

The executions took place after the Supreme Court upheld the guilty verdicts, finding the men guilty of

Context: a rising number of executions

These executions are a continuation of a series of protest-related verdicts, including against people accused of ties to Israel and the United States. The number of executions in Iran has risen since the start of the American-Israeli strikes on the country in late February. The protest movement began in December last year over the high cost of living and grew into mass anti-government demonstrations, which peaked on 8–9 January. Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 dead and blamed the violence on The BBC received numerous accounts from Iranians that security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters.

UN reaction and statistics

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in August that he was alarmed by the rise in death sentences: according to his figures, at least 56 people have been executed since 19 March on national security-related charges, including 27 in cases connected to the January protests. According to Amnesty International's estimate, at least 2,159 people were executed in Iran last year — the highest figure since 1981 — including 45 executions of dissidents in national security cases. Iran is considered the country with the second-highest number of executions in the world after China.