1 month ago
19
By Kieran Kelly
January 14, 2026 — 9.50am
An Iranian man will be executed this week after joining anti-regime protests, a human rights group says.
Erfan Soltani, 26, is due to be hanged on Wednesday, Iran time, after being detained last week. His family have been given no information about the charges against him or the judicial proceedings.
Erfan Soltani, 26, is set to be executed by hanging this week, according to the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights.
“This is the quickest we have seen a case move,” Arina Moradi, from the Norway-based Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights, told The Telegraph.
“This is the pattern of the Islamic Republic, for the judiciary to swiftly punish protestors with the death penalty. This will certainly not be a single case.
“The government is using every tactic they know to suppress people and spread fear.”
Loading
US President Donald Trump said he would take “very strong action” if the Iranian government started hanging protesters, but did not elaborate.
“I haven’t heard about the hanging. If they hang them, you’re going to see some things...we will take very strong action if they do such a thing,” he told CBS News on Wednesday (AEDT).
Soltani, a clothes shop owner, is accused of taking part in the protests that have swept Iran on a scale unprecedented in recent years.
Beyond the rampant killings of demonstrators on the streets by security forces, it is the first known case of an execution being ordered amid the current unrest.
However, Mordai said her group was “very concerned” about the fate of other detained protesters following the regime’s threats of harsh punishments. Many more executions are expected.
A source close to the Soltani family said authorities told them that his “imminent” death sentence was final and he would only be allowed a brief moment with his relatives before the execution.
Soltani was arrested at his home in Karaj, in north-central Iran. Four days later, his family was notified that his execution was scheduled, according to the Hengaw organisation.
It said he was given no right to defence or to a proper trial, adding: “This case constitutes a clear violation of international human rights law.”
Soltani is one of the 10,700 people who have been arrested since protests began late last year, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Tear gas is fired during an anti-government protest in Tehran last week.Credit: AP
The Islamic Republic, shaken by the scale of the protests and Trump’s threats to intervene, is expected to make an example of some protesters in an effort to quell the unrest.
The regime’s security forces launched a crackdown on the demonstrations last week after they spread to all of Iran’s 31 provinces, opening fire on crowds under apparent shoot-to-kill orders.
One Iranian official told Reuters that 2000 people had been killed in the unrest so far, but human rights groups said the real death toll could be far higher.
Loading
On Tuesday, Trump, who is considering air strikes against the regime, told Iranian protesters that “help is on its way”. He warned that the regime’s “killers and abusers” would “pay a big price”.
The unrest, which broke out on December 28 over economic grievances, quickly grew into a national movement with thousands taking to the streets demanding an end to the regime that has ruled the country since 1979.
Information from inside Iran is scarce after the regime imposed an internet blackout, in an apparent attempt to hide reports of security forces opening fire on protesters.
Hospitals are overwhelmed with victims, and bodies have piled up outside morgues, according to footage that has managed to be sent abroad.
On Tuesday, the US warned its citizens to leave Iran immediately.
Telegraph, London
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
Most Viewed in World
Loading
