This Iranian protester faces ‘imminent’ execution – just days after his arrest

By Kieran Kelly January 14, 2026 — 9.50am Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size An Iranian man will be executed this week after joining anti-regime protests, a human rights group says. Erfan Soltani, 26, is due to be hanged on Wednesday, Iran time, after being detained last week. His family have been given no information about the charges against him or the judicial proceedings. Erfan Soltani, 26, is set to be executed by hanging this week, according to the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights. “This is the quickest we have seen a case move,” Arina Moradi, from the Norway-based Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights, told The Telegraph. “This is the pattern of the Islamic Republic, for the judiciary to swiftly punish protestors with the death penalty. This will certainly not be a single case. “The government is using every tactic they know to suppress people and spread fear.” Loading US President Donald Trump said he would take “very strong action” if the Iranian government started hanging ‍protesters, ‌but did not elaborate. “I haven’t heard about the ‍hanging. If they hang them, you’re going to ‌see ‍some things...we will take ‍very strong action if they do such a ‌thing,” he told CBS News on Wednesday (AEDT). Soltani, a clothes shop owner, is accused of taking part in the protests that have swept Iran on a scale unprecedented in recent years. Advertisement Beyond the rampant killings of demonstrators on the streets by security forces, it is the first known case of an execution being ordered amid the current unrest. However, Mordai said her group was “very concerned” about the fate of other detained protesters following the regime’s threats of harsh punishments. Many more executions are expected. A source close to the Soltani family said authorities told them that his “imminent” death sentence was final and he would only be allowed a brief moment with his relatives before the execution. Soltani was arrested at his home in Karaj, in north-central Iran. Four days later, his family was notified that his execution was scheduled, according to the Hengaw organisation. It said he was given no right to defence or to a proper trial, adding: “This case constitutes a clear violation of international human rights law.” Soltani is one of the 10,700 people who have been arrested since protests began late last year, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Tear gas is fired during an anti-government protest in Tehran last week. Credit: AP The Islamic Republic, shaken by the scale of the protests and Trump’s threats to intervene, is expected to make an example of some protesters in an effort to quell the unrest. The regime’s security forces launched a crackdown on the demonstrations last week after they spread to all of Iran’s 31 provinces, opening fire...

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