Iran hanged two men Monday convicted of blasphemy, authorities said, carrying out rare death sentences for the crime as executions surge across the Islamic Republic following months of unrest.
Iran remains one of the world's top executioners, having put to death at least 203 prisoners since the start of this year alone, according to the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights. But carrying out executions for blasphemy remains rare, as previous cases saw the sentences reduced by authorities.The two men executed, Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare, died at Arak Prison in central Iran.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, who leads Iran Human Rights, decried the executions as exposing the "medieval nature" of Iran's theocracy. It wasn't immediately clear when Iran carried out its last execution for blasphemy. Other countries in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia, also allow for death sentences to be imposed for blasphemy.
In 2022, Iran executed at least 582 people, up from 333 people in 2021, according to Iran Human Rights. Amnesty International's most-recent report on executions put Iran as the world's second-largest executioner, behind only China, where thousands are believed to be put to death a year.Human Rights Activists in Iran, another group monitoring the Islamic Republic, warned last week about the "alarming surge" in executions.
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