U.S. Denounces Iran 'In Strongest Terms' for Public Execution — Ned Price

Baku/13.12.22/Turan:  The U.S. State Department on Monday denounced Iran for hanging a man who participated in nationwide protests, saying it showed the clerical leadership feared its own people, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

“We denounce this draconian treatment in the strongest terms" State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a daily briefing in response to TURAN's questions.

Iran executed second proteser Majidreza Rahnavard by hanging him atop a construction crane, after a revolutionary court in Mashhad convicted him of "waging war against God" a charge that punishable by death. He was reportedly taken into custody as a prisoner before the execution.

Price called Rahnavard "the Islamic Republic’s latest victim":

"He was swiftly executed after what can only be described as a sham trial. We understand that he was also executed publicly; he was hanged in public. The regime has rounded up and detained thousands of people for their involvement in these protests. Many of them now face harsh sentences, including the death penalty and sham trials that lack any due process."

He went on to add, "These harsh sentences and now the first public execution, at least, are meant to intimidate Iran’s people. They are meant to suppress dissent. And they simply just underscore how much Iran’s leadership actually fears its own people. As Iran’s leadership continues its violent crackdown on peaceful protesters, they should know that the United States is watching, but more importantly the world is watching, and we’ll continue to coordinate with our allies and partners around the world to confront Iran’s human rights abuses."

Asked by TURAN whether the U.S. had any leverage to prevent executions in Iran, Price said Washington had "a range of authorities."

"We have exercised many of those authorities already in the context of the violent crackdown on the protests on the part of the Iranian people, the efforts of the Iranian regime to suppress these peaceful protests, to cut off the Iranian people’s access to the outside world, their ability to communicate with one another," said.

"We’ve used our human rights authorities, including in the tranche of sanctions that we spoke to last week in advance of Human Rights Day, to hold accountable those who are responsible for this brutal crackdown," he added.

Nearly 500 Iranians have died since protests began following the death of Mahsa Amini over "improper hijab" in September.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.