The execution of Mojahed Kourkouri draws sharp condemnation from rights groups and raises new questions over judicial fairness in Iran’s post-protest crackdown.
Iran has executed Mojahed Kourkouri, also known as Abbas Kourkouri, nearly three years after his arrest during the anti-government protests that erupted across the country in 2022. The Iranian judiciary announced the execution on Wednesday, sparking renewed criticism from human rights groups who described the legal proceedings as deeply flawed.
Kourkouri was convicted of armed attacks and membership in a so-called “rebellion group,” and held responsible for the deaths of seven individuals, including nine-year-old Kian Pirfalak, during demonstrations in the city of Izeh. Authorities claimed he opened fire on a vehicle carrying the Pirfalak family. However, the family has consistently maintained that security forces were responsible for the child’s death.
Kourkouri was apprehended during an armed raid in December 2022, during which he sustained a gunshot wound to the knee. Following his arrest, he was reportedly held in solitary confinement and subjected to torture, according to Amnesty International. The organization called his trial “grossly unfair,” citing the denial of legal representation of his choice and the use of televised confessions allegedly extracted under duress.
He was sentenced to death in April 2023. A judicial review filed in January 2024 did not overturn the verdict, and the sentence was later confirmed and implemented. Kourkouri is the eleventh individual known to have been executed in connection with the 2022 protests.
Human rights groups have denounced the execution as part of a broader crackdown on dissent. Kian Pirfalak’s family has repeatedly disputed the state’s narrative. In a widely circulated video from the boy’s funeral, his mother, Zeynab Molaei, stated, “Plainclothes forces shot my child. That is it.”
The execution has intensified international concern over Iran’s response to the 2022 unrest, which began following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody. According to rights groups, hundreds were killed and thousands detained amid a heavy-handed crackdown by security forces.
Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw reported that at least 582 prisoners have been executed in Iranian prisons this year, including political, religious, and security-related detainees. The last known execution related to the 2022 protests was that of Reza Rasaei in August 2024, also condemned by Amnesty International as based on forced confessions obtained through torture.
