twitterwhatsappcopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoThe aftermath of an Israeli strike on Evin Prison after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 29, 2025 [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]By Al Jazeera Staff and AFPPublished On 19 Mar 202619 Mar 2026Iran has executed three people convicted of killing police officers and carrying out operations in favour of the United States and Israel during unrest earlier this year, the judiciary said, amid the sprawling war launched on the country, now in its 20th day.
“Three individuals convicted in the Dey [January] unrest, on charges of murder and operational actions in favor of the Zionist regime and the United States, were hanged this morning,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said on Thursday.
It added that those executed were involved in the killing of two law enforcement personnel.
Authorities say 3,117 people were killed during the anti-establishment protests that began in late December, rejecting statements by the United Nations and international human rights organisations that state forces were behind the killings, which were mostly carried out on January 8 and 9.
In February, before the war began, the United States-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had verified 6,872 deaths and was investigating more than 11,000 other cases. A UN special rapporteur had said the death toll might be higher than 20,000 as information trickled out despite heavy internet filtering by the state.
Earlier this week, Iran executed a Swedish citizen, Sweden’s foreign minister said, after Iranian authorities announced they had carried out capital punishment for an alleged Israeli spy.
On Wednesday, Iranian authorities announced hundreds more arrests across the country, as well as operations to counter what they describe as “traitors” aligned with the interests of the US and Israel.
The Ministry of Intelligence said in a statement that 111 “pro-monarchy cells” in 26 of Iran’s 31 provinces were stopped overnight into Wednesday from launching acts opposing the country’s theocratic establishment that toppled a US-backed monarchy in a 1979 Islamic revolution.
Iran executed several people convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency in 2025, as Tehran widened its crackdown on alleged collaborators following the 12-day Israel-US war on Iran.