Iranian Authorities Sentence 4 More to Death for January Protests, Rights Groups Report

Iranian authorities have sentenced four more individuals, including a woman, over last January’s protests, according to several rights groups. The four were convicted by a Tehran Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Imam Afshari of carrying out actions on behalf of the United States and other charges such as using explosives and weapons.

The regime’s judiciary accused the group of harming stationed forces and throwing objects from building roofs. Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl, his wife Bita Hemmati, and two others, Behrouz Zamaninejad and Kourosh Zamaninejad, were among those sentenced to death. Hemmati is believed to be the first woman to receive such a sentence.

Rights groups accuse Iran of using the death penalty as a tool of repression and fear it will increase due to tensions following the war against Israel and the United States. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center stated that Hemati was the woman seen in a video being interrogated by judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei.

Iran Human Rights Monitor reported 656 executions in the first three months of this year, while Norway-based Iran Human Rights and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty said at least 1,639 people were executed in 2025. The National Council of Resistance of Iran called on the United Nations to take action to save lives of those sentenced to death, especially political prisoners detained during the uprising.