Iran on Monday carried out its second execution linked to the nearly three-month wave of anti-government protests. Majid Reza Rahnavard was hanged in the city of Mashhad, the country's judiciary said. "Majidreza Rahnavard, who was sentenced to death on November 29 for killing two security guards with a knife and wounding four others," was executed in public in Mashhad, the judicial news agency Mizan reported. Rahnavard was arrested on November 17 while trying to flee the country, according to Mizan. The first execution linked to the protests took place last Thursday, when Mohsen Shekari was hanged, triggering widespread condemnation. UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned at the time that the world could not "turn a blind eye to the abhorrent violence committed by the Iranian regime against its own people". The current protests were triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by the country's morality police in September and died while in custody. She was held for allegedly wearing her hijab, or headscarf, "improperly". The unrest, which began in the capital Tehran where Ms Amini died, has spread to some 160 cities in all of Iran's 31 provinces. According to the rights group HRANA, over 18,000 people have been arrested and 488 people have been killed in the unrest. The protests are one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since its inception following the 1979 revolution. — Agencies
