Iran’s judiciary announced the execution on Sunday of a man who was convicted of running over several police officers with his car during anti-government protests in January.
It added that the man had run over several police officers with his car on January 8 in Karaj, west of Tehran, wounding seven of them. A protest movement initially sparked in late December by the high cost of living rapidly evolved into widespread anti-government demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9. The authorities executed at least 1,639 people last year, a record high since 1989, according to Iran Human Rights, an NGO based in Norway, and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), which is headquartered in Paris.
“Shahram Sadeghi, sentenced to death for having carried out an operational action in support of the Zionist regime and the United States, was executed this morning,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said. Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts” orchestrated by the United States and Israel, while rights groups based abroad maintain that security forces fired on protesters.
