Iran executes another prisoner as nationwide protests continue

Iran has executed a second prisoner who was detained amid the ongoing nationwide protests against the government.

Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was publicly hanged in the city of Mashhad on Monday morning, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported.

It is the second such execution in less than a week, after that of Mohsen Shekari on Thursday, who was accused of injuring a security guard with a machete and blocking a street in Tehran, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Rahnavard had been convicted of killing two members of security forces.

Amnesty International has criticised what it describes as “sham trials designed to intimidate those participating in the popular uprising that has rocked Iran”.

Activists warn that at least a dozen people already have been sentenced to death in closed-door hearings.

State media published a video of a man, which it identified as Rahnavard, stabbing another man who fell against a parked motorcycle and then stabbing another person immediately after before then running away.

The execution comes as protesters continue to take to the streets in defiance of the government and the threat of the security forces, following the death of Mahsa Amini.

The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman died while in the custody of Iran’s morality police.

Meanwhile, the EU is set to agree on a “very tough” package of sanctions against Iran, the bloc’s foreign policy chief said on Monday.

“We are going to approve a very tough package of sanctions”, Josep Borrell said.

“(The EU) will take any action we can to support young women and peaceful demonstrators.”

Iran has blamed the unrest on its foreign foes as well as Kurdish separatists, but its claims have been criticised by academics.