Mehrdad Mohammadinia and Ashkan Maleki, two January 2026 protesters were executed in Tehran on Monday 1 June 2026 with Iran’s judiciary describing them as “leaders of the unrest”.
• Mehrdad Mohammadinia and Ashkan Maleki were executed by the Iranian regime in Tehran on Monday 1 June 2026.
• The executions come amid a wave of repression ordered by Chief Justice Mohseni-Eje’i and calls from regime hardliners for public hangings and floggings.
Iran Executes Two More January Protesters as Repression Intensifies
The Iranian regime executed two protesters, Mehrdad Mohammadinia and Ashkan Maleki, in Tehran on Monday 1 June 2026. This raises the number of January protesters executed since 19 March 2026 (the eve of the Persian New Year) to at least 17.
Iran’s judiciary announced the executions through its official Mizan News Agency, describing the two men as “leaders of the unrest.” It claimed they were involved in setting fire to a Basij centre at Jafari Mosque in Tehran’s Kouy-e Nasr (Gisha) district, clashing with security forces, blocking roads, preventing the movement of security personnel, burning two Basij motorcycles, and attacking a religious seminary.
State Media Video of Sham Trial
State media published a video titled “The End of Two Leaders of the January Coup” showing the men during their trial.
On 21 February 2026, state media had already aired footage of the sham trial of three January protesters — including Mehrdad Mohammadi-Nia and Ashkan Maleki — accusing them of burning a mosque and a seminary in Tehran’s Nasr neighborhood. The third protester, Arman Ma’refati, has been sentenced to death and remains at risk of execution.
Mizan News Agency claimed that Mehrdad Mohammadi-Nia and Ashkan Maleki were the “main culprits” in burning the Jafari Mosque, which served as a center for IRGC Basij forces in western Tehran. The mosque was reportedly under the control of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi for 20 years. The state-run newspaper Hamshahri wrote on 22 April 2025 that the mosque had been in Raisi’s possession for two decades. Raisi who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2024, was one of the key perpetrators of the 1988 mass executions in which tens of thousands of political prisoners were killed across Iran.
Executions Across Multiple Cities
With the execution of these two protesters on Monday, the number of January protesters executed since 19 March has risen to at least 17. Since the eve of the Persian New Year, and amid the record internet blackout, these protesters have been executed in Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, Rasht, Mashhad, and Naein following sham trials that lacked any due process.
The two men executed on Monday were sentenced to death by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. Presiding over these trials is Judge Abolqasem Salavati, widely known as the “Judge of Death.” He is notorious for issuing hundreds of executions and long prison sentences based on fabricated charges.
In 2022, Salavati issued the death warrant for Mohsen Shekari (23), the first protester executed during the uprising triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini. Shekari was hanged just 2.5 months after his arrest following a sham trial.
Salavati has also been one of the regime’s primary tools for hostage diplomacy, presiding over the sham trials and sentencing of American and other Western citizens detained on fabricated espionage charges to be used as political bargaining chips.
Judicial Mobilization and Calls for Public Executions
The wave of executions of January protesters and other political prisoners comes against the backdrop of explicit calls by top regime officials for the speedy execution of dissidents.
On 19 April 2026, Iran’s Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i issued an unprecedented directive ordering a total mobilization of the courts to crush dissent. Comparing judges to “combatants,” he demanded they work nights and Fridays with no holidays. He ordered prosecutors to fast-track interrogations directly inside prisons such as Evin and issue indictments within hours rather than days.
🚨 IRAN: CHIEF JUSTICE EJEI DECLARES JUDICIAL WAR
— Ehsan Eghbal Eslami (@Ehsaneghbale) April 19, 2026
In an unprecedented directive, Mohseni-Ejei has ordered a total mobilization of the courts to crush dissent. Comparing judges to "combatants," he demanded they work nights and Fridays with no holidays.
He ordered prosecutors to… pic.twitter.com/gqMVBHy81T
Moreover, an Iranian MP recently demanded that Mohseni-Eje’i carry out public executions and floggings. Hamid Rassaei urged him to establish wartime “field courts” and bypass normal trial procedures so that public floggings and hangings could be carried out quickly in city squares. Praising the regime’s execution record, he declared: “Mr. Mohseni-Eje’i, your launcher must fire!”