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Iran Conflict 2026
11APR

Iran hangs a 15th uprising protester

3 min read
11:03UTC

Abbas Akbari Feyzabadi was hanged in Isfahan on Monday for taking part in January's protests, the 15th execution tied to the uprising. His sentence was carried out before his family was told.

ConflictDeveloping
Key takeaway

Iran's execution tempo over the January protests continues unbroken while its diplomats negotiate abroad.

Abbas Akbari Feyzabadi was executed on Monday 25 May in Isfahan province on a charge of moharebeh, enmity against God, for taking part in the January 2026 protests, according to i24 News and the Oslo-based monitor Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) 1. Iranian authorities accused Akbari Feyzabadi of opening fire on security forces and attacking government buildings, and carried out his Supreme Court-upheld sentence before notifying his family.

He was the 15th person put to death over the January uprising, the wave of protests that swept Iran early in the year and met a lethal state response. His case is distinct from that of Mojtaba Kian, executed a day earlier on espionage charges . The two hangings on consecutive days mark different tracks of the same crackdown: one framed as wartime espionage, the other as armed rebellion.

For the reader: moharebeh is a capital charge under Iranian law for waging war against the state, applied here to protest activity that the authorities say turned violent. The pre-notification execution, carrying out the sentence before telling the family, is a pattern rights monitors have documented repeatedly through the war.

The rights record runs in parallel to the diplomacy, not behind it. Amnesty International's 2026 execution register passed 200 earlier this month , and Akbari Feyzabadi's death adds to a count that has not slowed while negotiators talk. The table in Beijing and the gallows in Isfahan ran on the same Monday, and only one of them produced a document.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Iran executed Abbas Akbari Feyzabadi in Isfahan province on 25 May. He was the 15th person put to death for taking part in the January 2026 protests, which erupted after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the US-Israeli strikes that started the war. He was charged with 'enmity against God', a capital offence under Iran's Islamic Penal Code, based on accusations that he fired on security forces and attacked government buildings. Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) in Oslo documented the execution and confirmed the family received no prior notification. The executions for protest activity continue even as Iranian officials hold diplomatic talks aimed at ending the war, a pattern Iran has followed in previous conflicts and protest crackdowns.

What could happen next?
  • Consequence

    The 15-execution pace for January-uprising activity means European governments conditioning any Iran sanctions relief on human-rights improvements face a rising evidentiary record that makes conditionality politically harder to waive.

  • Risk

    If the pace of executions accelerates beyond 15 before any MOU is signed, parliamentary scrutiny in EU member states may add human-rights conditions to any sanctions-waiver instrument that requires European legal frameworks to implement.

First Reported In

Update #107 · Two markets, two prices on one Iran deal

i24 News· 25 May 2026
Read original
Different Perspectives
Iran human rights monitors (Amnesty International, Iran HRM, Hengaw)
Iran human rights monitors (Amnesty International, Iran HRM, Hengaw)
Monitors documented 30 women held on capital moharebeh charges in a basement prison ward, Benyamin Naqdi's death sentence with a forced-confession broadcast, and 39 political executions since February. Iran's security courts have processed protest cases at uninterrupted wartime tempo regardless of the diplomatic track.
Lloyd's of London (war-risk underwriters)
Lloyd's of London (war-risk underwriters)
Lloyd's held its Hormuz war-risk designation at $10-14 million per voyage while Brent fell 19%, maintaining a structural divergence from futures pricing. Underwriters require a UN Security Council resolution or government certification letter, not diplomatic optimism, before de-listing the strait.
Oman (Sultan Haitham's government)
Oman (Sultan Haitham's government)
Muscat issued a mine alert in its own territorial waters while denying any Hormuz toll plan after US Treasury threatened sanctions. A suspected mine in Omani waters on the same weekend as US financial pressure forces Muscat to demonstrate sovereignty without appearing to choose sides.
China (PRC)
China (PRC)
Beijing sent scholars rather than its defence minister to Shangri-La for the second year running and addressed Taiwan and multilateralism without mentioning Iran. China maintains its bilateral energy corridor protection with Tehran while refusing the diplomatic exposure of a public position at multilateral forums.
Iran Supreme National Security Council
Iran Supreme National Security Council
The SNSC framed the unsigned MOU as a 10-point Iranian victory with enrichment already recognised, and the foreign ministry rejected Trump's nuclear conditions within hours. Tehran treats each unsigned day as validation that Iran has retained its stockpile without surrendering it.
Trump administration (CENTCOM/White House)
Trump administration (CENTCOM/White House)
Trump posted three non-negotiable public conditions while CENTCOM disabled a commercial ship and Hegseth threatened resumed strikes from Singapore. The administration treats the unsigned MOU as leverage to extract maximum Iranian concessions before any ceasefire instrument is committed to paper.