Iran hangs two men accused of attacking police during widespread protests in January

Iran publicly hanged two men on Tuesday who took part in the nationwide January 2026 anti-government protests.

Amirhossein Safari and Abolfazi Sepahi were among 12 protesters sentenced to death in what became known as the Alikhani Square case. Officials accused them of attacking police who were sent to put down demonstrations in Isfahan in central Iran.

“These individuals tied the police officers to a sign with ropes, injured them with stones, poured gasoline on them, set them on fire, and while the officers were still alive, dragged them to the ground and inflicted numerous blows on their bodies with knives and machetes,” the state-controlled Mehr News Agency reported.

Human rights groups denounced the trials as “grossly unfair.” 

The judicial proceedings were marked by heavy restrictions on the defendants, including denying their lawyer access to the case file and the court’s failure to consider defense evidence.

“The Iranian authorities are unleashing a horrifying wave of executions and death sentences to punish and suppress dissent and project an image of strength and absolute control in the wake of the January popular uprising and amid ongoing attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“The muted response from the international community emboldens the Iranian authorities to continue their deadly rampage,” she said.

United Nations officials called on Iran to immediately halt the executions. 

“Credible reports indicate that more than 60 individuals, including at least three women and two boys, have been sentenced to death since December,” U.N. officials said. “According to the [Iranian] judiciary, 23 men have already been executed in relation to these protests since March.”

Shopkeepers and bazaar merchants initiated the demonstration in Tehran on Dec. 28, 2025. Within two days, it had spread beyond the marketplaces and commercial centers. Protests were in all 31 Iranian provinces.

“Senior judicial and other officials [in Iran] also continue to publicly vow to fast-track prosecutions and threaten the imposition of harsh punishments against protesters,” Amnesty officials said.

Hossein Sanapour, a prominent Tehran-based author and literary critic, has called for the end of the mass executions in Iran. 

On his Telegram page, he said the hangings seem to be intended to shock and render passive the demonstrators in Iran.

“What motive could the government have for this series of executions whose trials and verdicts are unclear to the public?” Mr. Sanapour said. “Is the intention to create fear? Perhaps, but do the judges and executioners not know that these executions create more anger than fear? Perhaps they do not know.”