Iran executes three men linked to Mahsa Amini protests

Iran on Friday executed three men convicted of involvement in the deaths of members of the security forces during protests triggered by Jina Mahsa Amini's death last year, the judiciary said.

Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were convicted of "moharebeh," or "war against God," for drawing a gun during a demonstration in the central city of Isfahan, the judiciary's website Mizan Online said.

Authorities said the men killed two members of the Basij paramilitary force and a law enforcement officer died during protests in November.

They were arrested shortly after the demonstrations and sentenced to death in January.

Charged with breaches of national security

The men were also charged with membership of "illegal groups with the intention of disrupting national security and collusion leading to crimes against internal security", Mizan Online said.

It noted "evidence and documents in the case and the clear statements made by the accused" show that "the shootings carried out by these three people led to the martyrdom of three security forces."

Rights groups say the three were subjected to torture, forced into televised confessions and denied due process.

The US State Department on Thursday called on Iran not to carry out the executions.

The three men had on Wednesday appealed to the public for support in a handwritten note saying, "Don't let them kill us.”

Amini's death triggered waves of protests

Large demonstrations broke out several times last fall following the death in custody of Jina Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd who had been arrested by Iran's morality police.

Amini died in suspicious circumstances in September last year. Authorities said she died of a heart attack, while eyewitnesses said she had been severely beaten and died as a result of police brutality. 

During the protests, which Tehran generally labeled as foreign-instigated "riots", thousands of Iranians were arrested and hundreds killed including dozens of security forces.