Iran Set to Execute First Female Protester: A Crucial Turning Point in Anti-Regime Unrest

Iran is poised to carry out the execution of its first female protester linked to the January 2026 demonstrations in Tehran, as reported by several human rights groups.

Bita Hemmati has been sentenced to death alongside three other individuals, including her husband, 34-year-old Mohammadreza Majid-Asl. This information was shared by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

Reportedly, their neighbors, Behrouz and Kourosh Zamaninejad, have also received death sentences, while a relative, Amir Hemmati, was handed a five-year prison term.

These verdicts are among the latest in a series of capital sentences as the government intensifies its efforts to quell dissent. Reports suggest that possibly thousands have died in the protests that have swept across the country this year.

Protesters were seen blocking a street during a demonstration in Tehran on January 9, 2026. (Photo by MAHSA via Middle East Images / AFP / Getty Images)

“Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl and Bita Hemmati are a couple living in Tehran, and Amir Hemmati is a relative of the two,” a source told HRANA. “Kourosh Zamaninejad and Behrouz Zamaninejad were living in the same residential building, and their arrests took place simultaneously.”

No execution date has yet been given.

The Tehran Revolutionary Court reportedly accused the defendants of multiple offenses, including national security disruption in connection with the “hostile government of the United States,” according to HRANA.

On Jan. 8 and 9, the defendants allegedly used explosives and weapons, threw objects such as concrete blocks and incendiary materials from rooftops, injured security forces, and engaged in “propaganda against the regime” in an effort to undermine security, according to federal authorities.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

Alongside the capital punishment verdicts, the court also issued five years of discretionary imprisonment and ordered the seizure of their personal assets. 

Officials added that the fifth associate, Amir Hemmati, was specifically convicted of “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the regime,” the groups said.

Human rights activists further raised concerns that the defendants’ confessions may have been coerced, citing allegations of torture and interrogation.

Mourners hold pictures of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Isfahan, Iran, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Payman Shahsanaei/ISNA via AP)

The organizations, which are urging a halt to the executions, also claimed a lack of specific evidence linking the accused to the alleged crimes, and argued that Tehran is seeking to intimidate the public in order to prevent future civilian unrest. 

Widespread protests first erupted in late December 2025 in Tehran amid an economic crisis marked by a collapsing currency and soaring inflation. Tensions then quickly escalated into broader anti-government unrest that spread across multiple cities.

Washington officially joined the conflict with the launch of Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28, 2026, when it conducted massive joint airstrikes with Israel that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.