Iran Executes Two Men Convicted of Setting Fire to Tehran Mosque During Deadly January Unrest

Iran executed Mehrdad Mohammadi-Nia and Ashkan Maleki on Monday after the Supreme Court upheld their death sentences, the judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency reported. Iranian authorities said the two men were among the main perpetrators of an attack on the Jafari Mosque in Tehran's Gisha neighbourhood during protests that erupted in December 2025 and January of this year.

The judiciary said the men were convicted of setting fire to the mosque, damaging public property, clashing with security forces, blocking roads and activities against national security.

Authorities also ordered the confiscation of their assets. The specific capital charge under which they were sentenced was not stated in the judiciary's announcement. The January protests began in late December 2025 following the collapse of the country's currency, the rial, and rapidly spread to nearly all Iranian cities.

Security forces killed thousands of people during a crackdown on 8 and 9 January. Iran's Supreme Council of National Security acknowledged a death toll of more than 3,000. The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran put the figure at a minimum of 5,000, while various humanitarian groups and insiders in Iran have estimated that the death toll might have reached as many as 42,000.

The Islamic Republic imposed a strict internet blackout on 8 January, making it nearly impossible to verify claims. Amnesty International said in a report published last Thursday that Iranian authorities had arrested more than 6,000 people since the start of the war, including protesters, journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders.

The organisation said authorities had accelerated prosecutions, including capital cases, and documented enforced disappearances, torture, forced confessions and unfair trials.

It said at least 39 political executions had been carried out during the same period. The figure covers executions linked to the country-wide protests and the Iran war, as Tehran's overall execution rate is far higher. Amnesty's most recent annual report recorded at least 2,159 executions in Iran in 2025, the highest figure for any country and the majority of 2,700 executions documented worldwide that year.

Human rights organisations have also raised concerns about the treatment of detainees arrested during the January protests, many of whom continue to face political and security-related charges. Iran has consistently rejected international criticism of its judicial proceedings, saying those executed were convicted of serious crimes following due process.