Iran sentences 1 more person to death for 'declaring war on state' amid protests

ANKARA/TEHRAN, Iran

A Tehran Revolutionary Court on Tuesday sentenced to death one more person who was arrested over recent protests in Iran as the trial of many demonstrators continued.

The person received a death sentence on charges of "declaring war on the state by using fireless weapons in a way that causes fear and indignation," said Mizan News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran's judiciary.

The statement added that the sentence could be challenged in the appeals court.

"The investigation process was initiated swiftly, based on justice and law, and the trial of the defendants continues" upon Iran's judiciary chief Mohseni Ejei's instruction, it said.

With this ruling, the number of people sentenced to death for participating in the Mahsa Emini protests climbed to two.

Iran's judiciary on Sunday issued preliminary sentences to some of those arrested over recent protests in the country, with one of them receiving the death sentence.

Five other defendants were given sentences ranging between five and 10 years on charges of "assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security and disruption of public order and peace."

It comes days after Ejei called for expediting the cases related to recent protests that were triggered by the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman in police custody.

During the protests in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, a student who is a member of the Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Basij militia died due to a Molotov cocktail thrown by the demonstrators, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said Tuesday.

In addition, a colonel named Resa Elmasi died during the demonstrations in the city of Bukan, located in West Azerbaijan province in Iran's northwest, according to an early report of IRNA

The colonel was reportedly shot dead by "unidentified rebels" with a pistol, it added.

Protests over Mahsa Amini's death following her detention by morality police for wearing "inappropriate dress" erupted first in her native Kurdistan province in mid-September before spreading to other parts of the country, including the capital Tehran.

The government has not released the official death toll in the protests, but independent watchdogs have put the figure at more than 250, including civilians and police officers.

The US and European countries have in recent weeks imposed a slew of sanctions on Iranian officials and entities over what they call a "brutal crackdown on protests," while Iranian authorities have accused them of "stoking unrest" in the country.

More than a thousand people have been arrested in the past two months for taking part in the nationwide protests, including university students, journalists and activists.

Javaid Rehman, the special UN rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, last week said that as many as 14,000 people had been arrested since September.

Last week, in a joint statement, 227 Iranian lawmakers called on the judiciary to "decisively deal" with those arrested for involvement in recent violent protests.