Iran executes man linked to 2022 mass protests

Iranian authorities have carried out the execution of Abbas Kurkuri, a man convicted in connection with the mass protests that erupted across the country nearly three years ago.

According to the state-affiliated Mizan news agency, Kurkuri was executed on Wednesday, with officials identifying him as a native of Izeh, a city in Iran’s south-western Khuzestan Province.

He had been convicted of “waging war against God’’ in line with Islamic jurisprudence, it said.

The judiciary found that he had been an instigator behind the “unrest’’ in his city.

Mr Kurkuri was found guilty in April 2023.

He had been accused of killing several people during the protests.

At the time, the mother of one of his alleged victims, a 10-year-old boy, blamed the security forces.

The verdict provoked outrage in Iran and abroad amid growing doubts over Kurkuri’s guilt.

The death of the 10-year-old in mid-November 2022 also caused national outrage.

His family challenged the official account in interviews with opposition media.

To date, at least 11 people have been executed in connection with the mass protests in the autumn of 2022 under the rubric “Woman, Life, Freedom’’.

It erupted following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini after she was detained for not wearing her head covering properly.

Her death unleashed the strongest wave of protests in Iran for decades.

The protests were repressed with a large loss of life.

(dpa/NAN)