Protests against the mandatory hijab law, initially fueled by Jina (Mahsa) Amini’s death at the hands of the morality police, are also protests against the regime. In videos taken during street protests, alongside chants of “Woman, Life, Freedom,” protestors can also regularly be heard chanting “Death to the dictator.”

Dissatisfaction with the current government stems from rampant poverty, suppression of ethnic and religious minorities including Baha'is and Sunni muslims, and widespread government corruption.

Previous protests against the government, such as the 2009 Green Movement, used to be peaceful and reformist; however, even these protests were met with violent repression by government forces, such as the killing of Neda Agha Soltan after attending a protest. The video of her death circulated in Iran and around the world, leading to stricter internet control by the Iranian government (TW: Linked article contains frames of the video).

The 2019 protests in Iran showcased a change in attitude towards the government: instead of showcasing support for one presidential candidate over another like the 2009 protests, people were openly chanting for a change in government and burned down posters of Ali Khamenei, the current supreme leader of Iran, and Qassem Soleimani, former Quds Force commander. The ongoing protests in the country, therefore, portray a change in the nature of the demands, from reformist to abolitionist.

Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Amnesty International has consistently highlighted that Revolutionary Courts lack independence and operate under the influence of security and intelligence forces to impose harsh sentences following grossly unfair trials marked by summary and predominantly secret processes.

23-year-old Mohsen Shekari, a café worker, was executed on the morning of Dec. 8, 2022, for blocking a road during a protest during Sep. 2022 in Tehran.

Like many other political executions in Iran, Mohsen Shekari was denied access to a lawyer and charged with false charges such as injuring a Basij militia member and moharebeh (“waging war against God”).

Simultaneously with the publication of the news of Mohsen Shekari's execution, Telegram channels affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a video of his forced false confession. The "confessions" of Mohsen Shekari were recorded in two separate interviews, and in one of them, his face is visibly injured.

The Islamic Republic has a history of pressuring family members of protestors into silence via security measures. Mohsen Shekari’s family was, as expected, told by government forces that if they didn’t speak to the press, he would soon be freed from prison. However, Mohsen Shekari was executed despite his family not publicizing his case.

23-year-old Majidreza Rahnavard, a fruit shop worker, was publicly executed on the morning of Dec. 12, 2022 over allegations of fatally stabbing two Basij militia guards during a protest in Nov. 2022. Rahnavard was denied a lawyer of his choice for the trial and the lawyer he was given did not put up a defense.

During his arrest, Majidreza Rahnavard was beaten in such a way that pictures of him published by Iranian state media afterwards shows his left arm in a cast. He had a tattoo of the Lion and Sun on his left arm, an emblem of the Iranian flag up until the 1979 revolution and a common symbol in some opposition groups.

1500tasvir, an independent Iranian news organization, has analyzed the charges made against Rahnavard and has found inconsistencies.

In a Dec. 16 Telegram post, 1500tasvir writes: “The Islamic Republic says that two Basij fighters were killed on Nov. 26 in front of Majidreza Rahnvard's house in Mashhad, but it is a lie. On that day and in that place, three Basij fighters were killed. The government media announced the identity of the third person, but after some time the scenario changed and the death toll of two people was announced.”

1500tasvir also mentions the fact that the name of the third person, “Ebrahim Ghafarian,” was removed from videos of their government-sponsored funeral proceedings. In a forced confession, Rahnavard is also heard saying he is willing to be executed three times.

Furthermore, two days prior, on Nov. 24, owners of shops near the area were detained for 24 hours, put under pressure, and had all of their CCTV footage taken. Speculations have arisen on social media that the third Basiji’s death may later be used to incriminate another protestor.

22-year-old Mohammad Mehdi Karami, a Kurdish karate champion, and 39-year-old Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, a volunteer children’s coach and poultry worker, were both executed on Jan. 7 on charges of Fisad-e-filarz (“corruption on earth”) over the alleged murder of a Basij militaman during the 40-day anniversary of Hadis Najafi’s death, an Iranian Tiktok influencer shot dead while protesting over the death of Jina (Mahsa) Amini.

Mohammad Mehdi Karami’s father, in a widely published interview, tearfully says: “My son has been a national Karate champion multiple times. This is a child I have raised by street peddling. I swear to God, I don’t know what to do. They’re killing my child. Who do I talk to? Anyone I talk to says don’t proceed, this is a security matter. Why shouldn’t I proceed? What has he done? Two thousand people attacked the basiji, God bless his soul, and they pressed all the charges against my child. I asked him, Mehdi, swear on my life, did you kill him? And he tells me I swear to God dad, no!”

Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, at the time of his arrest, didn’t have any living family members to follow his case unlike other detainees.

Amnesty International has called for action to halt the death sentences of three more young protestors: 18-year-old Arshia Takdastan, 19-year-old Mehdi Mohammadifar, and 31-year-old Javad Rouhi. They are at risk of execution following sham trials in connection with September protests in the city of Noshahr.

According to Amnesty International, The Revolutionary Court stated that they incited riots' by dancing, clapping, chanting or throwing headscarves into bonfires. Authorities subjected them to beatings, floggings, electric shocks, suspension, death threats and sexual violence to extract “confessions.”

1500tasvir has also reported on three more people in danger of execution. On Nov. 4, 2022, during the 40-day anniversary of Jina Amini’s death, city traffic cameras in Mashhad stopped working. As a result, city protests became very widespread with little government repression. This issue, however, was never reported in Iranian state media.

1500tasvir goes on to explain that the outage of the cameras was the result of optical fibers in the municipality’s traffic control center catching fire. Although the government of Iran did not publicly admit to their lack of access to the cameras that day, it arrested three people in connection with the issue. Majid Khoshmanzhar, who works in the city’s traffic control department, the son of Majid, Amirreza Khoshmanzhar, and Babak Zarin were all arrested on the charge of setting optical fibers on fire.

There is no detailed information about the circumstances of Babak Zarin's case, but Majid and Amirreza Khoshmanjar have been accused of Moharebeh (“waging war against God”), which carries the death penalty.

Turning the names of such sentenced protestors into viral hashtags has in the past proven to be successful in delaying or changing their sentences. Political representatives also respond to these hashtags by announcing political sponsorship for jailed protestors; for example, German MP Ye-One Rhie has undertaken the political sponsorship of imprisoned dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi to improve his condition and prevent his execution. Sharing hashtags and writing to political figures requesting their political sponsorship for Iranian detainees is effective action that has real results.