Iran is reportedly preparing to carry out the first execution of a demonstrator detained in the latest wave of anti-regime protests, prompting urgent warnings from human rights organizations and renewed international scrutiny of Tehran’s tactics against dissent.

Rights groups say 26-year-old Erfan Soltani was arrested during protests in the city of Karaj and swiftly sentenced to death following a closed and highly opaque judicial process. According to Iran Human Rights, known as IHRNGO, and the National Union for Democracy in Iran, NUFD, Soltani’s family was informed that he is scheduled to be hanged after being convicted on serious political and religious charges.

Sources cited by IHRNGO say relatives were summoned by authorities and told that Soltani had been condemned to death and that the sentence would be carried out imminently. The family, they report, was given no meaningful opportunity to appeal, nor any detailed explanation of the evidence used against him.

Human rights advocates describe Soltani’s case as emblematic of a broader pattern: rapid, secretive trials, denial of legal representation, and the use of vaguely defined national security and religious offenses to silence protesters. NUFD says Soltani was denied access to a lawyer throughout his detention and trial, a violation of both Iranian law and international human rights standards.

According to accounts shared by activists and media monitoring groups, Soltani has been charged with “waging war against God,” a capital offense in Iran that is frequently invoked against political opponents, protesters, and dissidents. The charge, rooted in Islamic jurisprudence and known in Persian as moharebeh, has long been criticized by international legal experts as overly broad and susceptible to abuse.

NUFD insists that Soltani’s “only crime was calling for freedom” and has launched a campaign urging foreign governments, international organizations, and ordinary citizens to intervene. “Be his voice,” the group wrote on X, calling on supporters to amplify his case and pressure Tehran to halt the execution.

Iran Human Rights warns that Soltani’s case may be the first in a series of politically motivated executions aimed at crushing the protest movement through fear. In a statement, IHRNGO Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said the state’s response to the demonstrations recalls some of the darkest chapters in the Islamic Republic’s history.

He argued that the widespread killing of civilian protesters in recent days is reminiscent of the regime’s actions in the 1980s, when thousands of political prisoners were executed following summary trials. Those events have been described by many human rights experts as crimes against humanity, and Amiry-Moghaddam suggested that the current crackdown risks crossing similar lines.

“The risk of mass and extrajudicial executions of protesters is extremely serious,” the IHRNGO statement warned. The group invoked the international doctrine known as the Responsibility to Protect, or R2P, which holds that the global community has an obligation to act when a state is unwilling or unable to prevent mass atrocities against its own population.

“Under the Responsibility to Protect, the international community has a duty to protect civilian protesters against mass killings by the Islamic Republic and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the statement continued. It called on civil society and citizens in democratic countries to press their governments to take concrete steps, including diplomatic pressure, targeted sanctions, and support for independent investigations.

Independent verification of Soltani’s case has been complicated by a tightening information blackout inside Iran. Authorities have reportedly restricted internet access, disrupted mobile networks, and increased surveillance in an effort to limit the flow of images and testimony from the streets. Journalists and activists say these measures are designed to conceal the scale of the crackdown and to prevent coordination among protesters.

Despite the blackout, human rights monitors estimate that more than 500 people have been killed in the government’s response to the protests, with many shot by security forces during demonstrations or dying in custody under suspicious circumstances. Over 10,000 people are believed to have been arrested in recent weeks, including students, labor activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens who joined rallies against the government.

The protests themselves have been fueled by deep economic hardship, soaring inflation, unemployment, and widespread anger at corruption and mismanagement. What began as frustration over Iran’s failing economy has increasingly evolved into a broader challenge to the political system, with many demonstrators calling for sweeping reforms or outright regime change.

Videos and testimonies gathered by rights groups depict heavily armed security forces confronting largely unarmed crowds, firing live ammunition, tear gas, and metal pellets at close range. Families of the dead and detained report intimidation, threats, and pressure to remain silent or to accept official narratives that blame “rioters” or “foreign agents” for the violence.

The looming execution of Soltani has intensified international debate over how to respond to Iran’s crackdown. Western governments and human rights organizations have condemned the use of the death penalty against protesters and urged Tehran to halt all executions related to the demonstrations, release political prisoners, and allow independent observers into the country.