Iran has executed an anti-regime protester by public hanging after convicting him of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and “waging war against God,” as the Islamic Republic continues a sweeping crackdown on those who took part in the January uprisings against the regime.
Erfan Kiani was hanged on Saturday morning after Iran’s Supreme Court upheld his death sentence on appeal. He had been arrested during the January protests that erupted in opposition to the Tehran government following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and was subsequently convicted by the Isfahan Revolutionary Court on charges including wielding a machete, inciting violence, destroying public property and leading a role in the demonstrations. Iranian state media branded him a “hired thug of Mossad.” The National Council of Resistance of Iran, an opposition organisation, described him as a “brave rebellious youth.”
The execution comes amid what human rights groups have described as an unprecedented wave of state killings. Iran has executed more than 1,600 people in the past year — the highest figure recorded since the post-Iraq war massacres of 1989 — with approximately four people put to death every day throughout 2025. While the majority of those executed were convicted of drug-related offences or murder, a significant number of dissidents have been hanged on charges of “waging war against God” and “corruption on Earth” following what human rights organisations have described as “grossly unfair trials and without due process.”
Earlier this month, at least four anti-regime activists were executed within a 48-hour period, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which also reported that a further 15 political prisoners had been sentenced to death in the same timeframe. Iran’s security forces are estimated to have killed more than 30,000 people during January’s anti-regime demonstrations.
The execution of Kiani stands in contrast to a separate development involving eight women protesters who had been due to face the same fate. In an extraordinary intervention, US President Donald Trump announced that Iran had agreed not to execute the women following his personal demand for their release, declaring it “Very good news!” on Truth Social. Four were to be released immediately and four sentenced to one month in prison.
The diplomatic picture around Iran, however, remains in turmoil. Trump simultaneously announced the cancellation of a second round of direct talks between American and Iranian negotiators in Islamabad, Pakistan, after Iran’s delegation departed early. “I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going to Islamabad to meet with the Iranians,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Too much time wasted on travelling, too much work. Also we have all the cards, they have none. If they want to talk, all they have to do is call.”
