ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran on Tuesday executed two men accused of killing four police officers in Isfahan province during the nationwide January protests, the judiciary reported.

The suspects protested in a group, who were family members and acquaintances, and were allegedly armed with knives, machetes, and Molotov cocktails, according to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency. 

They “extensively destroyed public and private property, attacked people and security forces, and set fire to buildings, the police station, and public places, turning the area into a scene of terror and insecurity,” the judiciary said.

“The criminals, after committing their heinous and heartbreaking crime, were engaged in desecrating, dancing, and stomping on the holy bodies of the martyrs for 3 hours,” it added.

The judiciary identified Amir Hossein Ebrahimi and Amir Hossein Maleki as “the main perpetrators.” Both were executed on Tuesday morning.

Iran was engulfed in nationwide protests starting in late December, as business owners and shopkeepers at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar went on strike and held demonstrations over the falling value of the Iranian rial against the US dollar. The unrest later spread to other provinces, with chants increasingly targeting the state.

The protests led to a violent crackdown from Iranian authorities during which tens of thousands of people were killed, injured, or arrested. Dozens have been executed for their alleged involvement in the unrest since.

The Islamic republic has ramped up executions since its war with the US and Israel and the nationwide protests.

According to Amnesty International’s 2025 annual report on the use of the death penalty worldwide, global executions have surged to their highest level in over four decades, driven largely by Iran.

The report said Iranian authorities carried out at least 2,159 executions, more than double the previous year and the highest figure recorded in the country in decades. Iran alone accounted for around 80 percent of all recorded executions worldwide.

In August, UN human rights chief Volker Turk criticized Iran for continuing to use executions to “instill fear,” saying that the Islamic republic uses capital punishment to “suppress dissent.”