Iran publicly hanged 19-year-old wrestler Saleh Mohammadi and two other young men in Qom on Thursday, authorities and rights groups said, carrying out the first known executions tied to the mass arrests that followed nationwide protests earlier this year.
The case matters beyond the deaths of three men because it marks a new stage in Iran’s response to the winter uprising. Mohammadi, Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi were among the tens of thousands swept up in the January crackdown. Rights groups say many more detainees still face capital charges, and they describe the hangings as a warning meant to stop fresh demonstrations at a time when Iranian authorities are also under pressure from war abroad and anger at home.
The chronology moved quickly. Authorities said the case grew out of protests in Qom on Jan. 8, when two police officers were killed during street unrest in the holy city south of Tehran. Human rights groups say Mohammadi, Ghasemi and Davoudi were arrested a week later, on Jan. 15, and convicted in early February. By March 19, state media said, the sentences had been upheld and carried out in public. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights, said the executions were “intended to instill fear in society and deter new protests.” Iranian state media cast the case in different terms, saying the three men had taken part in armed attacks during the demonstrations and were responsible for the officers’ deaths.
Iran’s judiciary said the men were convicted of murder and moharebeh, or waging war against God. Reuters reported that officials also accused them of acting in favor of Israel and the United States, a charge Iranian authorities have repeatedly raised in describing the unrest. State outlet Mizan announced the executions and published video showing the defendants in prison uniforms during court proceedings, along with footage authorities said showed them reenacting the killings. Amnesty International and other rights groups disputed the fairness of the process. Amnesty said Mohammadi denied the charges in court, withdrew his confessions and said they had been extracted under torture. The group also said he was beaten in detention and that one of his hands was broken. Basic parts of the case remain unclear because of Iran’s internet blackout and tight controls on reporting. It is still not publicly known under what circumstances the three were detained or whether they knew one another before their arrests.
The executions landed in a wider climate of fear left by the winter crackdown. Nationwide protests that began in late December surged into the first week of January and brought one of the bloodiest security responses seen in Iran since 1979. A full death toll remains disputed and hard to verify because outside reporting has been sharply limited. Rights groups have said more than 50,000 people were arrested in a little over six weeks, while the Iranian government has acknowledged that more than 3,000 people were killed. Courts moved fast after the protests ebbed. Rights monitors said state media aired hundreds of forced confessions tied to offenses that can carry the death penalty, and they warned from the start that trials were being used not only to punish but also to send a message. The hangings in Qom are now being watched as a test of whether more such sentences will follow.
Mohammadi’s age and his place in Iranian sport gave the case unusual weight. Wrestling is one of Iran’s most celebrated sports, and friends and former teachers described him as a serious young athlete with a public future. In 2024, he won a bronze medal at an international youth tournament in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. On social media, he posted videos of training sessions, matches and gym workouts, mixing them with short motivational lines. Shiva Amelirad, an Iranian teacher now living in Toronto who had spoken with him when he was still in high school, told The Associated Press that he was “full of energy.” United World Wrestling, the sport’s international governing body, had issued a statement on Feb. 27 saying Mohammadi remained at risk of a capital sentence and calling for a fair, transparent and impartial trial. The case also revived memories of wrestler Navid Afkari, whose 2020 execution after protest-related charges drew global condemnation and left a lasting mark on the sport.
The legal picture for others still in custody is now the central question. Iran Human Rights says at least 27 people arrested in the protest wave have already received death sentences, and more than 100 others face charges that can bring capital punishment. Amnesty said in February that it had identified at least 30 people at risk of the death penalty in cases linked to the January uprising, including children and teenagers. Some were sentenced within weeks of their arrests. By the time Mohammadi was executed, there was no sign that outside pressure had changed the result in his case. The Supreme Court had already upheld the sentences, and no new hearing or public review was announced. Rights groups say that leaves dozens of families waiting to see whether other detainees will be moved through the same compressed process, especially as authorities continue to arrest critics during the war that began on Feb. 28.
The details from Qom added another layer of cruelty. Iran Human Rights said the executions were carried out “in the presence of a group of people in Qom,” underscoring that the punishment was meant to be seen. Davoudi, the group said, was executed one day before his 22nd birthday. Ghasemi’s age has not been clearly established in public reporting. Reza Soleimani, a former Iranian water polo player living abroad, told Reuters that Mohammadi’s death was “a very sad moment.” For people who knew the young wrestler, the official images from the courtroom collided with a different memory: a teenager posting training clips, medal photos and messages about persistence. Amelirad said Mohammadi tried to present himself as cheerful even while describing the strain of life around him. That contrast, between the athlete on the mat and the defendant on state television, has helped turn his case into a symbol of the human cost of Iran’s latest crackdown.
As of Saturday, Iranian authorities had not announced any pause in protest-related capital cases or any new public review of the remaining defendants. Rights groups say the next critical milestone is simple and grim: whether more names from the January arrests are added to the execution list in the days ahead.
Author note: Last updated March 22, 2026.