Iran drew international condemnation on Saturday for executing two men for killing members of a paramilitary force in November during unprecedented protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in custody.
The latest hangings doubled the number of executions to four amid nationwide unrest, which has escalated since mid-September into calls to end Iran’s clerical regime.
He also opposed a campaign by international rights groups to spare the lives of the two men.
The judicial news agency Mizan Online reported that “Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, the main perpetrators of the crime that led to the martyrdom of Ruhollah Ajamian, were hanged this morning.”
Prosecutors said the 27-year-old militiaman was stripped and killed by a group of mourners paying their respects to the slain protester, Hadis Najafi.
The UN human rights office rejected the execution, which it said followed an “unfair test based on forced confessions”.
The European Union said it was “shocked” by the use of the death penalty against civilian protesters.
France’s foreign ministry called the execution “rebellious”.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said it “reinforces our desire to increase pressure on Tehran with the EU.”
Iranian authorities have arrested thousands in a crackdown on a wave of demonstrations that began after the September 16 death of Iranian Kurdish woman Amini, 22, after she was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s dress code for women.
Two more people were killed in December, sparking global outrage and new Western sanctions against Iran. Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, both 23 years old, have been convicted of separate attacks on security forces.