Executions in Iran, the United States reacts: This shows the regime fears its people

These draconian sentences and now the first public execution (of a protester) are intended to intimidate Iran's people. They aim to shut down the opposition's mouth and simply show the extent to which Iranian leadership fears its people”, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was sentenced to death after he stabbed two members of security forces and injured four other people, according to Mizan online, a news agency related to the Iranian judiciary. He was publicly hanged in Mashhad, northeast of Iran.

It was the second execution linked to the protest movement caused by death on September 16th by the young Mahsha Ammini in police hands, but the first to take place in public, after the December 8th suspension of Mohsen Sakaar, also 23, convicted of assault and wounding a paramilitary.

For his part, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres considers the terms of the execution of Majidreza Rahnavar “particularly severe” and calls on Iranian authorities to stop implementing the death penalty, his spokesman said during a press conference. Executions have triggered an international protest.