23-year-old Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged early on Monday, 12 December 2022 in the city of Mashhad, the judiciary said.

A court convicted him of "enmity against God" after finding he had stabbed to death two members of the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force.

Rahnavard was hanged just 23 days after his arrest. Human rights groups have warned that protesters are being sentenced to death after sham trials with no due process.

His mother was not told of the execution until after his death. His family were then given the name of a cemetery and a plot number. When they turned up, security agents were burying his body.

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The judiciary's Mizan news agency said Rahnavard was hanged "in the presence of a group of Mashhadi citizens" and posted several pre-dawn photographs reportedly showing the execution.

Rahnavard was denied a lawyer of his choice for his trial. The lawyer he was given did not put up a defence.

Mizan had previously reported that he was accused of stabbing to death two members of the Basij on a street in Mashhad on 17 November. The Basij is a volunteer force often deployed by Iranian authorities to suppress dissent.

The women-led protests against Iran's clerical establishment were sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by morality police in September 2022 for allegedly wearing her hijab, or headscarf, "improperly".

They have spread to 161 cities in all 31 provinces and are seen as one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.

A video broadcast by state TV after his arrest on 19 November 2022 showed Rahnavard blindfolded and with his left arm in a cast. In the footage, he said he did not deny attacking the Basij members but did not remember the details because he had not been in the right state of mind.

The first execution of a protester took place last Thursday, resulting in international condemnation. 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari was convicted of "enmity against God" after being found to have attacked a Basij member with a machete in Tehran.

BBC Persian's Kasra Naji says it is not clear whether the executions will help end the protests that have been sweeping the country or just pour fuel on the fire.

So far, at least 488 protesters have been killed by security forces and 18 259 others have been detained, according to the Human Rights Activists' News Agency (HRANA). It has also reported the deaths of 62 security personnel.

Iran is second only to China in the number of executions carried out annually.

BBC