Iran executes man over involvement in winter protests

Iran's judiciary announced the execution on Sunday of a man who was convicted of running over several police officers with his car during anti-government protests in January.

"Shahram Sadeghi, sentenced to death for having carried out an operational action in support of the Zionist regime and the United States, was executed this morning," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

It added that the man had run over several police officers with his car on January 8 in Karaj, west of Tehran, wounding seven of them.

A protest movement initially sparked in late December by the high cost of living rapidly evolved into widespread anti-government demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9.

Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths, attributing the violence to "terrorist acts" orchestrated by the United States and Israel, while rights groups based abroad maintain that security forces fired on protesters.

The number of executions in Iran has risen since the start of the Middle East war, which broke out on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes against Iran.

A large number of the executions have been linked to the protests.

The authorities executed at least 1,639 people last year, a record high since 1989, according to Iran Human Rights, an NGO based in Norway, and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), which is headquartered in Paris.

According to Amnesty International, Iran conducts the second most executions of any country, after China.