Iran says it executed a prisoner arrested during the ongoing anti-government protests – the first known death sentence linked to the unrest.
Thursday’s execution came after people reportedly gathered around Azadi Square in the capital Tehran overnight.
The prisoner was identified as Mohsen Shekari by the Mizan news agency, which is run by the country’s judiciary.
He was accused of wounding a security guard with a machete and blocking a street in Tehran, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Amnesty International has criticized what it describes as “sham trials intended to intimidate those taking part in the popular uprising that has rocked Iran”.
State media released a video of what they said was Shekari’s confession where he appears with a bruise on his right cheek.
He admitted hitting a member of the Basij militia with a knife and blocking a road with his motorbike alongside a friend of his.
Rights groups said Shekari was tortured and forced to confess to his crime.
The organization says Iranian authorities are seeking the death penalty for at least 21 people.
The execution was condemned by British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who said he was “outraged”.
He said on Twitter: “The world cannot turn a blind eye to the heinous violence committed by the Iranian regime against its own people.”
The execution comes as protesters continue to take to the streets in defiance of the government and the threat of security forces, following the death of Mahsa Amini.
The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman died while in the custody of Iranian morality police.
Videos on social media appear to show a crowd chanting “Don’t call me a seditionist. You are the sedition, the oppressor” as they gathered in Tehran on Wednesday night.
The arch of the Azadi Tower Museum can be seen in the background as people cheered and shouted by the side of the road.
Facing perhaps the biggest threat to its rule in decades, the regime responded to the protests with a brutal crackdown that left at least 475 protesters dead, according to the militant HRANA news agency.
Iran has blamed the unrest on its foreign enemies as well as Kurdish separatistsbut his claims have been criticized by scholars.
This week, the sister of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the repression and called on the Revolutionary Guards to lay down their arms.
