Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old man from Iran, has received a death sentence in Iran, as per reports from human rights organizations. This development occurs amidst widespread protests in the country and a forceful government reaction.
The case of Soltani is attracting attention as potentially the initial death penalty in the recent surge of protests against the Iranian authority led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Reports have emerged of law enforcement firing at groups of protesters. The casualty toll has now surpassed 2,000, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency and an Iranian state official who disclosed this information to Reuters.
“Iran Human Rights expresses profound concern regarding the escalation and persistence of protester fatalities, and the looming risk of mass executions of protesters, urging an immediate response from the global community,” stated the human rights group.
Iran Human Rights mentioned that the Iranian government officials have labeled protesters as “mohareb” (a legal term meaning “war against God”), terrorists, and instigators, connecting them to Israel and the United States, crimes that are punishable by death.
The protests commenced slightly over two weeks ago due to frustrations over Iran’s declining economy, expanding to target the theocratic rule, especially 86-year-old Khamenei. Another rights group based in Norway, Hengaw, noted that Soltani’s sister, a lawyer, has been denied access to her brother’s case file.
Since his detention, Erfan Soltani has been denied basic rights, including legal counsel and the right to a fair trial, as highlighted by the group. The family has only been granted one final meeting with Soltani before his scheduled execution. U.S. President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to announce the cancellation of planned meetings with Iranian officials “until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”
Top Iranian security official Ali Larijani responded by accusing the U.S. president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “the main killers of the people of Iran.” Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, a professor at the University of Toronto, expressed that the statements by Trump and Netanyahu have not aided the Iranian demonstrators but have allowed the regime to portray protesters as foreign operatives.
The professor emphasized the significance of Iranian sovereignty in the ongoing political discourse amid the protests. Trump had hinted at a regime change in Iran following U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, which led to heightened tensions between the two nations.
While Iran and Israel agreed to a ceasefire subsequently, Trump’s remarks evoked memories of past U.S. involvement in Iranian politics, notably the 1953 CIA-backed coup that ousted Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iran’s first democratically elected leader, setting the stage for the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Tavakoli-Targhi is closely monitoring whether the current protests could evolve into a revolution, noting similarities with the events of 1979. However, a notable distinction is the absence of any visible division within the current Iranian government or military, a crucial factor in previous revolutions.
