Iran carries out second execution linked to protests

Iran on Monday carried out the second execution in less than a week of a protestor linked to the nearly three months long anti-regime demonstrations pummeling the country. 

A man was hanged in public after being convicted of killing two members of the security forces, the judicial news agency Mizan reported. Clashes were sparked in September by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody following her detention for not following the country's strict dress code for women.

"Majidreza Rahnavard, who was sentenced to death on November 29 for killing two security guards with a knife and wounding four others," was executed in the Shiite city of Mashhad, the report said.

“He was sentenced to death for 'waging war against God'," it added.

Another Iranian man, Mohsen Shekari, was hanged on Thursday after being convicted of wounding a security guard with a knife and blocking a street in Tehran. Rights groups said the 23-year-old protester was tortured to confess.

The execution sparked global outrage with Washington calling it "a grim escalation" and vowing to hold the Iranian regime to account for violence "against its own people." 

According to Amnesty International, at least 21 protesters are facing the death penalty in Iran in trials “designed to intimidate those participating in the popular uprising that has rocked Iran.”