Iran’s judiciary has recently executed two men for blasphemy.
The official news outlet reports that Yousef Mehrdad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare were found guilty of organising anti-religious activities and promoting content that was deemed to be against Islam and its prophets.
Mehrdad was identified as the administrator and main organiser of 15 online groups and channels, which propagated atheism.
Also, a publicly shared video clip showing the moment a Quran was burned was reportedly contained in Mehrad’s phone, according to Al-Jazeera
The case began when the public reported an unnamed group publishing “obscene” content, leading the judiciary to summon several people, one of whom was Mehrdad.
Fazeli Zare was also found to operate 20 anti-religion online groups.
The executions which took place on Monday are the latest in a series of executions in the past two weeks, with Iran executing 42 people in 10 days.
Most of the executions, which have not been publicised or commented on by Iranian authorities, have been ethnic Baluchis convicted of drug charges.
Iran is known for having one of the highest rates of executions globally, with the country executing more people annually than any other country apart from China.
A group of United Nations human rights experts have called on the Iranian authorities to de-criminalise blasphemy and take meaningful steps to ensure the right to freedom of religion or belief and freedom of opinion and expression without discrimination.
