Iran executes two men in case tied to January protests: What to know
Iran has stepped up executions during the war with the US, and attacks on police are on the rise in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan.
Iranian authorities announced Tuesday the execution of two young men in relation to the highly publicized killing of police officers during the January protests and riots.
What happened: The judiciary said Amirhossein Maleki, 20, and Amirhossein Ebrahimi, 19, were executed after their death sentences were upheld. The two were found guilty of carrying out armed attacks on security personnel and buildings in Alikhani Square in the central city of Isfahan in January, resulting in the deaths of four officers, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
The two men were found guilty of "waging war against God" and "corruption on earth," according to the judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency.
IranWire, a news outlet that reports critically on the Islamic Republic, reported that the legitimacy of the confessions in the case has been questioned by rights groups and that a lawyer for one of the defendants denied that his client was guilty. A total of 12 people have been sentenced to death in relation to the case, according to IranWire.
