21/04/2026 – 10:45 GMT+2
Iran executes Amirali Mirjafari for allegedly plotting to burn a Tehran mosque and collaborating with Israel and the US, as rights groups decry rising executions.
Iran executed on Tuesday a man convicted of helping set fire to a major mosque in Tehran and of collaborating with Israel and the US during pre-war protests, Tehran regime’s judiciary said.
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The man, identified as Amirali Mirjafari, was put to death on Tuesday after his sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court, according to Mizan, the judiciary’s news agency.
Mirjafari, accused of being “one of the armed elements collaborating with the enemy who had attempted to set fire to the Gholhak Grand Mosque and was the leader of the Mossad network’s anti-security,” was hanged on Tuesday morning, Mizan reported.
Mizan said the incident took place during protests that broke out in Iran in late December over rising living costs before evolving into nationwide anti-government demonstrations that peaked on 8 and 9 January.
According to official reports, Mirjafari confessed after his arrest to participating in the January protests, damaging public property, and carrying out arson attacks using gasoline-filled bottles.
However, human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have repeatedly raised concerns about the use of confessions obtained under duress in Iran’s judicial system.
Additional reports point to a sharp rise in executions. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, said in a report published on March 9 that at least 100 people were executed in January 2026 alone.
Human rights organisations have warned that many more protesters could be facing capital punishment, although comprehensive figures remain difficult to verify.
Iranian judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei has called for faster implementation of sentences against those accused of involvement in the unrest or alleged collaboration with foreign adversaries, including Israel and the United States.
He has previously said that penalties such as “confiscation of property and execution” should be carried out more swiftly, describing the situation as a “full-scale war” against the country.
US President Donald Trump and White House officials have publicly claimed that Iran halted or cancelled the execution of roughly 800 people in January.
However, independent reporting and accounts from human rights groups have not corroborated a clear, verifiable pause on that scale.
Meanwhile, rights groups report that Tehran has accelerated the execution of political prisoners since the start of the war involving Iran, the United States and Israel, including protesters and alleged opposition members, amid an ongoing internet shutdown.
Rights groups also warn that further executions may be imminent, including that of Bita Hemmati, believed to be among the first known female protesters facing the death penalty in connection with the January unrest.
Iran has been at war with the United States and Israel since 28 February. A fragile two-week ceasefire has been in place since 8 April.
