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Iranian authorities executed two men on Monday after convicting them of membership in a banned opposition group and attempting to overthrow the Islamic republic, the judiciary said.

"After confirmation and final approval of the sentence by the Supreme Court, Akbar Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi-Sangdehi were hanged this morning," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

The executions come as Iran is at war with the United States and Israel following strikes against the Islamic republic on February 28 that triggered a wider regional conflict.

The two executed men were affiliated with the People's Mujahedin of Iran, also known as Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), which has been in exile since the 1980s and is designated as a terrorist organisation by Tehran.

It was not immediately clear when they were arrested or whether they were involved in recent protests, but Mizan said they had taken part in "riots and urban terrorist actions.”

Mizan said they were charged with participating in "terrorist acts", carrying out actions aimed at overthrowing the Islamic republic, and disrupting national security.

Protests in Iran began in late December over rising living costs and later escalated into nationwide anti-government demonstrations, peaking on January 8 and 9.

Authorities say the protests, initially peaceful, turned into "foreign-instigated riots" involving killings and vandalism.

Tehran says more than 3,000 people were killed during the unrest, including security personnel and civilians, and attributes the violence to "terrorist acts".

However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has recorded more than 7,000 deaths, most of them protesters, while warning the true toll could be higher.

Iran Supresses Dissent

On March 18, Iran publicly excecuted three men convicted of killing police officers during protests in January, with activists warning of the risk of a new surge in hangings as war rages with Israel and the United States. They were the first public hangings since protests began in December.

Rights groups said the trio, who included a teenager who had taken part in international wrestling competitions, were executed without a fair trial and had given confessions under torture.

“Executing these young protesters in public, after sham trials built on torture and forced confessions, is state-sanctioned murder designed to terrorize the population and send a clear message: any act of dissent will be met with death,” said the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

Also on March 18, Iranian authorities executed Kourosh Keyvani, a dual Swedish-Iranian citizen, who was arrested in June 2025 during the Twelve-Day War, and accused by Iranian authorities of spying on behalf of Israel. Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard summoned the Iranian Ambassador and condemned the act, saying his trial “did not meet the standards of due process.”

The sharp uptick in executions seems due to continue as the judiciary officials said on March 22 that they were only now beginning to carry out sentences handed down during the period of civil-unrest in December and January.