Iran hanged 19-year-old wrestler Saleh Mohammadi and two other young men in Qom early Thursday after courts convicted them in a protest-related killing case, a move rights groups said opened a harsher new phase in the state’s response to January unrest.
The executions of Mohammadi, Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi were the first known hangings among the tens of thousands of people swept up in the winter crackdown, and they came as the judiciary signaled there would be no leniency for convicted protest defendants. Rights groups say at least 27 people arrested in the protest wave have already received death sentences and that more than 100 others face charges that can bring capital punishment. That has turned one case in Qom into a measure of how quickly more prosecutions may move from fast trials to executions.
Authorities tied the case to unrest in Qom on Jan. 8, when police officers were killed during clashes in the holy city south of Tehran. Human rights groups say Mohammadi, Ghasemi and Davoudi were arrested on Jan. 15. They were convicted in early February, and state media later said the Supreme Court upheld the sentences. Before dawn on March 19, state outlets announced the men had been hanged in Qom. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights, said the executions were “intended to instill fear in society and deter new protests.” Iranian officials described the men differently, saying they took part in armed attacks during the demonstrations and were responsible for the officers’ deaths. The pace of the case, from arrest to execution in a little more than two months, became part of the alarm around it.
Iran’s judiciary said the men were convicted of murder and moharebeh, or waging war against God. Officials also said the case involved acts carried out in favor of Israel and the United States, language Iranian authorities have used repeatedly in describing the winter unrest. Judiciary outlet Mizan published video that showed the three men in prison uniforms during court proceedings and footage authorities said showed them reenacting the killings. Amnesty International disputed the case record and said Mohammadi withdrew his confessions in court, saying they had been extracted under torture. The group said he was beaten in detention and that one of his hands was broken. Basic facts still remain unclear, including the circumstances of the arrests, what access the defendants had to lawyers during questioning, and whether the three men knew one another before they were detained.
The executions landed in a country still marked by the January protest wave. Demonstrations that began in late December grew through the first week of January and met the deadliest crackdown by Iranian security forces since 1979, according to regional reporting and rights groups. The full death toll remains disputed and hard to verify because of internet limits and tight controls on reporting. Human Rights Activists News Agency, a U.S.-based group that relies on contacts inside Iran, has said it confirmed more than 7,000 deaths and was examining thousands more. The Iranian government has acknowledged more than 3,000 deaths. Rights monitors also say more than 50,000 people were arrested in a little over six weeks. Courts moved quickly after the protests ebbed, and rights groups warned at the time that the government was using televised confessions and fast prosecutions not only to punish defendants but also to send a public message.
Mohammadi’s age and his place in Iranian sport gave the case unusual weight. Wrestling is one of the country’s most celebrated sports, and Mohammadi had a record that made him stand out beyond his hometown. In 2024, he won a bronze medal at an international youth freestyle tournament in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. On social media, he posted clips of training sessions, matches and gym work, often with short motivational lines. On Feb. 27, United World Wrestling said he remained at risk of a capital sentence and called for a “fair, transparent, and impartial trial.” His death also revived an older fear inside Iranian sports circles, where athletes have at times become symbols of the state’s treatment of dissent. In that sense, Mohammadi was not only a defendant in a criminal case but also a young athlete whose public profile made the outcome harder to contain.
The broader legal picture has only grown darker since the hangings. Amnesty said on Feb. 20 that eight people had already been sentenced to death in protest cases and that at least 22 others were in expedited trials it described as torture-tainted and grossly unfair. Iran Human Rights has since said at least 27 protest defendants have received death sentences and that more than 100 face capital charges. On Monday, first deputy judiciary chief Hamzeh Khalili said cases tied to the January protests had been processed, that some final verdicts were now being carried out, and that “no leniency” would be applied to those convicted. His statement suggested that the executions in Qom were not a closed chapter but the opening of a wider enforcement phase. At the same time, authorities have kept arresting critics during the war that began on Feb. 28, deepening concern that more defendants could be pushed through the same compressed process.
The details from Qom added to the shock. Iran Human Rights said the hangings were carried out in the presence of a group of people in the city, underscoring that the punishment was meant to be seen. The group said Davoudi was executed one day before his 22nd birthday. Shiva Amelirad, an Iranian teacher living in Toronto who had spoken with Mohammadi when he was still in high school, remembered him as a teenager who loved training and tried to appear upbeat even while talking about the strain of life around him. “He was full of energy,” Amelirad said. Reza Soleimani, a former Iranian water polo player now living in Canada, called the death “a very sad moment.” For people who knew Mohammadi through the sport, the official courtroom images clashed with the picture of a young athlete posting training videos, medal photos and workout clips only months earlier.
As of Monday night, Iranian authorities had not announced any pause in protest-related capital cases or any new public review of the remaining defendants. The next test is likely to come from other January cases, where rights groups say more names could reach final verdicts and possible executions in the days ahead.
Author note: Last updated March 23, 2026.