When a 19-year-old wrestler and two other men were hanged in the holy city of Qom on Thursday, Iran’s theocratic regime was sending a message to both dissenters inside the country and opponents abroad, analysts say.
The three men, who were all linked to the January’s anti-regime nationwide protests, were executed with the approval of Iran’s Supreme Court and “in the presence of a group of people,” said the judiciary-affiliated news agency Mizan.
Human rights groups including Amnesty International, described the trials as a sham involving forced confessions and fast-tracked proceedings. Amnesty accused Iranian authorities of carrying out “arbitrary executions” to intimidate the public “among…