Iran executes two men detained amid nationwide protests

TEHRAN [IRAN]: Iran on Saturday executed a karate champion and volunteer children's coach amid a crackdown on protests, reported CNN. Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini were hanged early Saturday morning, state-affiliated Fars News reported.

The total number of people now known to have been executed in connection with the protests that have swept the country since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody on September 16 has reached four.

The pair, who allegedly took part in anti-regime protests last year, was convicted of killing Seyed Ruhollah Ajamian, a member of the country's Basij paramilitary force, in Karaj on November 3, according to Iran's judiciary news agency Mizan.

Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, a lawyer advocating for Karami, posted to Twitter Saturday saying that Karami was not given final rights to speak to his family before his execution.

The lawyer added that Karami had begun a dry food hunger strike Wednesday as a form of protest against officials for not allowing Aghasi to represent him, reported CNN.

As many as 41 more protesters have received death sentences in recent months, according to statements from both Iranian officials and in Iranian media reviewed by CNN and 1500Tasvir, but the number could be much higher.

Meanwhile, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the European Union (EU) have urged Iran to halt all executions following the hanging of the pair. "We deplore the execution of two more protesters, #MohammadMehdiKarami & #MohammadHosseini, following unfair trials based on forced confessions," the OHCHR said in a tweet on Saturday.

The EU said in a statement Saturday that it was "appalled" by the executions, calling it "yet another sign of the Iranian authorities' violent repression of civilian demonstrations," reported CNN.

Norway-based non-profit organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) also condemned the killings and warned "of the execution of a large number of protesters in the coming days if this is not met with an appropriate response," in a statement on Saturday.