Iran Monday executed two men in Arak Central Prison, following multiple convictions upheld by the country’s Supreme Court. According to the human rights organisation Iran Human Rights, these hangings are the most recent of 42 executions carried out in Iran in the last ten days.

Mizan, a state-linked news source for Iran’s judiciary, announced the executions of Yousuf Mehrdad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare on Monday morning. Prior to their death sentences, Mehrdad and Fazeli Zare were arrested in 2020 for blasphemy-related allegations, along with five others believed to be involved in the running of anti-Islamic groups and online Telegram channels that the Islamic Republic deemed insulting. Following their arrest, they were kept in solitary confinement for two months and allegedly denied family visits and phone calls.

Both men were sentenced to death following multiple charges related to the running of these groups. Mehrdad was convicted of insulting the Prophet (Sabb-ul-Nabi) and insulting sacred things, while Fazeli Zare was convicted of rejecting Islam (apostasy), insulting the Prophet, blasphemy of the Prophet’s mother, desecration of the Quran by burning, insulting sacred things and publishing private images of others without consent.

The Norway-based human rights group, Iran Human Rights, has condemned the actions and regime of Iran in the wake of these executions. The deaths of Mehrdad and Fazeli Zare follow shortly after the execution of Swedish-Iranian political activist Habib Chaab, 3 of 194 executions in Iran in 2023 alone. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, who leads Iran Human Rights, commented on the situation via Twitter, calling for an end to these executions:

The execution of Yousef and Sadrollah for “insulting the Prophet” is not only a cruel act by a medieval regime, it is also a serious insult to the freedom of expression- these executions must be a turning point in the relations between the Islamic Republic and countries respecting the freedom of expression. Lack of a strong reaction by the international community sends a green light to the the Islamic Republic and their ideological allies worldwide, and will put the freedom of expression in serious danger everywhere!