The U.S. Condemns the Execution of Mohammad Salas

On Monday, June 18, the U.S. condemned the execution of Mohammad Salas, a Gonabadi dervish. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the execution as 'brutal' and 'unjust,' urging U.S. allies worldwide to denounce the Iranian government's actions. The Tehran prosecutor's office announced on the morning of June 18 that the death sentence for 51-year-old Salas had been carried out. Salas was accused of running over three police officers during a clash with dervishes, but his lawyer insisted he was innocent, and Amnesty International stated that his execution 'sacrifices justice.' Pompeo tweeted, 'We call on all our allies and partners to join us in condemning the brutal and unjust execution of Mr. Salas.' Heather Nauert, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, emphasized in a statement: 'We call on Iranian officials to release the hundreds of dervishes imprisoned for their beliefs, including their leader Dr. Nourali Tabandeh, who has been under house arrest for at least four months and requires urgent medical care.' The spokesperson further stated, 'The people of Iran deserve the rule of law, transparent and accountable governance, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, not the brutal punishments that are always intertwined with the nature of this regime.' A protest gathering by Gonabadi dervishes around the home of Nourali Tabandeh, the leader of this order, in the Pasdaran area of Tehran, turned violent on February 19 of last year due to the intervention of security forces and plainclothes agents. A video from the night of the clash between dervishes and police and Basij forces on social media shows a white bus zigzagging toward police forces. Salas was sentenced to three counts of retribution for 'running over three police officers with a bus.' During the trial, domestic news agencies reported that Salas denied the intentionality of the killings of the police officers. However, his lawyer Zainab Taheri and his son and daughter stated that Salas had been arrested three hours before the incident and was not the bus driver. Meanwhile, in an audio file attributed to Mohammad Salas, he emphasized that he was not the driver of the bus and confessed to this due to 'several hours of torture' at the police station. In this context, Salas's lawyer wrote on Twitter to the Tehran prosecutor on Sunday, 'With years of legal experience, I guarantee he is innocent and I have undeniable evidence that he is innocent. What is the reason for this haste and injustice?' Zainab Taheri added, 'The Iranian judiciary does not intend to hear his statements about Mohammad Salas's 'innocence,' and for this reason, she calls for immediate help from 'all the people of Iran, the world, and international officials.' Amnesty International had also urged Iranian authorities to halt the execution process hours before the execution of this Gonabadi dervish. According to Amnesty International, information received by the organization indicates that pursuing the execution process 'will sacrifice justice.' Amnesty International called on Iranian officials to stop the death sentence and demanded a retrial in this case in accordance with international fair trial standards and the abolition of the death penalty.