Skip to content
You can now search across every topic, entity and event.What's new
Russia-Ukraine War 2026
11APR

Iran hangs a 15th uprising protester

3 min read
16:48UTC

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
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey, a major buyer of Russian diesel cargoes, loses that access under Moscow's first producer-binding export ban, in force from 8 July to 31 July. Ankara hosted the same week's NATO summit pledging EUR 70bn to Ukraine, sitting on both sides of the fuel-and-alliance ledger.
NATO
NATO
NATO leaders meeting in Ankara on 7 and 8 July pledged EUR 70bn in equipment, assistance and training for Ukraine across 2026, with a 2027 sustainment commitment and a $40bn Drone Edge counter-drone initiative. European allies now fund the vast majority of that package, filling the gap left by Washington's idled crude waiver.
India
India
India's state refiners continued buying discounted Urals crude as June's price fell to $63.18 a barrel, insulating New Delhi from the OFAC waiver gap still constraining Western buyers. Indian refiners could pick up diesel-export share as Russia's producer-binding ban shuts out its former customers.
China
China
China's independent refiners kept importing discounted Urals crude through June as the price fell to $63.18 a barrel, down 26% month-on-month per CREA. Beijing has said nothing on Moscow's new diesel ban, leaving Chinese refiners a likely beneficiary if Turkish and Brazilian buyers seek replacement cargoes.
United States
United States
No successor licence has been issued since General License 134C lapsed on 17 June, leaving a 26-day gap, the longest of the war, in the Russian crude waiver. Washington's silence is tightening the channel without any stated decision, as Treasury weighs whether to let it die.
Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine's long-range strike campaign shifted from refineries to seaborne fuel tankers crossing the Sea of Azov, cutting tracked vessel traffic 55% between 30 June and 11 July, per Starboard Maritime Intelligence. The shift targets Russia's export revenue directly rather than just domestic supply, adding pressure alongside the collapsing Urals price.