Iran executes man for killing policeman during 2022 protests

Iran executed a man on Tuesday after convicting him of killing a policeman and wounding others during nationwide protests in 2022, the judiciary said.

"The death sentence of Mohammad Ghobadlou... was carried out this morning after 487 days of legal proceedings," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

Ghobadlou had been found guilty of killing a policeman and wounding five others, Mizan said.

The events took place during nationwide protests sparked by the September 2022 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly breaking Iran's strict dress code for women.

Hundreds of people were killed, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands more arrested over what officials labelled as foreign-instigated "riots".

Ghobadlou was initially sentenced to death in November 2022 after being convicted of the capital offence of "corruption on Earth" for attacking police in Tehran with a car, "resulting in the death of one officer and injuries to five others," according to Mizan at the time.

In February 2023, the Supreme Court granted him a stay of execution and later referred his case to a new jurisdiction to deal with issues relating to his mental health, according to a report by Iran's Mehr news agency in July.

On Tuesday, Mizan said the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence against Ghobadlou which was carried out under Iran's Islamic law of retribution.

Ghobadlou's execution brings to eight the number of people executed on charges of murder or other violence against security force personnel during the protests.

Separately, the Supreme Court commuted the sentence against another death row prisoner, Mahan Sadrat, to 10 years in Kalibar prison in East Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran.