ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iran on Thursday executed a young man for allegedly attacking police officers in Isfahan during the nationwide protests that erupted late last year, sparking a brutal government crackdown.

The 21-year-old athlete “was hanged for effective cooperation with the enemy by attacking police officers during the December coup attempt with the intent to oppose the regime, damaging police vehicles, inciting people to war and killing each other to disrupt national security,” the judiciary said, according to state media.

Iran has carried out at least 21 executions since the onset of the US-Israeli war in Iran in late February, the UN human rights office reported on Wednesday, with Tehran continuing its crackdown on dissent through national security-related charges.

The Oslo-based Hengaw Human Rights watchdog condemned the execution as a “clear case of state-sanctioned killing and retaliation against protesters.”

“Sasan Azadvar, a karate champion from Isfahan Province, was abducted by security forces during protests in the city on January 9, 2026. During his detention, he was subjected to severe physical and psychological torture and forced to make confessions,” the monitor said.

His lawyer had repeatedly stated there was no credible evidence against him, according to Hengaw.

Iran has a long history of broadcasting confessions that human rights groups say are coerced, often obtained through threats, psychological pressure, and, in some cases, physical torture. They are commonly described as “forced confessions.”

Especially during periods of heightened tension, such as the January nationwide protests, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that more than 240 forced confessions were broadcast in the aftermath of the crackdown.

Earlier on Thursday, Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei once again ordered the acceleration of trials in cases involving individuals accused of collaborating with the US and Israel, describing them as “ground soldiers” and alleging they assist the “enemies” from inside and outside Iran.