Iran executed three men on Sunday, November 8, after courts convicted them of conducting operations for Israel and the United States and participating in armed unrest during January's anti-government protests, state media reported. The executions added to a series carried out in recent months over the demonstrations.
The men were identified as Hassan Dioband, Hamid Kazemi and Reza Zanganeh. According to Iran's judiciary, they were accused of using guns, grenades and Molotov cocktails during the unrest. Authorities also accused them of burning public facilities and damaging an electricity substation in Karaj, resulting in power cuts in parts of the city.
The judiciary said Dioband was detained on January 11 after investigators identified him as a suspect in attacks against public property and in encouraging violence. Authorities subsequently arrested 10 other people accused of taking part in the unrest under his supervision.
Dioband, Kazemi and Zanganeh received death sentences, along with orders to confiscate their assets. The executions went ahead after the Supreme Court upheld those sentences. The other defendants were given prison terms ranging from five to 10 years, according to the account of the proceedings.
The protests began late in 2025 and developed into widespread anti-government rioting in January. Iranian authorities put the number of people killed during the unrest at more than 3,000. They blamed the violence on what they described as terrorist acts organized by the United States and Israel.
Non-governmental organizations based outside Iran have disputed that account. They maintain that Iranian security forces opened fire on protesters and that the actual number of deaths was substantially higher than the figure reported by authorities. The executions in recent months have included people accused of connections to Israel and the United States.
In late February, a joint US and Israeli attack on Iran set off a war in the Middle East that has since entered an uneasy lull. Arrests and executions in Iran have increased since that attack, with cases tied both to the war and to the January protests.
Rights organizations, including Amnesty International, say Iran carries out more executions annually than any other country apart from China. Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty reported at least 1,639 executions in Iran in 2025, the highest annual total recorded since 1989.
