Two men involved in killing 4 security forces during January riots executed in Iran
Two men convicted of involvement in the killing of four security forces during foreign-backed January riots in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad have been executed, Iran’s Judiciary says.
According to the Judiciary’s Media Center, Ali Hemmati and Majid Nik-Andish, field operatives involved in the killings, were executed early on Wednesday.
During interrogation and preliminary proceedings, Hemmati confessed to carrying out acts of sabotage.
In court, he described his actions, saying, “On January 8, 2026, I went with Majid Nik-Andish to a chain store, attacked it and caused damage. I lit a Molotov cocktail and set the store on fire. In Tabarsi 4 [Alley], we saw a group of people beating two Basij members. Majid and I also went there, and with a knife I was carrying, I stabbed one of the Basij members twice in the side. Majid then took the knife from me and stabbed the other Basij member twice in the side.”
Hemmati also said that he stopped a truck carrying soil, unloaded its cargo into the street and blocked traffic.
The Judiciary said Nik-Andish was carrying three Molotov cocktails during the riots. In his testimony, he said, “I took part in the unrest on January 8 and 9, 2026, and was carrying a knife. We attacked a store. I filmed the unrest and sent the footage to a number abroad.”
Nik-Andish also told judicial authorities that he kicked a person who was lying on the ground, set fire to a bank, and damaged public property along his way.
He further said that he and Hemmati attacked a store, loaded merchandise into a vehicle, and took the goods to Hemmati’s home.
Following Nik-Andish’s statements to the prosecutor, a team of officers searched Hemmati’s home and, according to the Judiciary, discovered merchandise belonging to the store.
The Judiciary said that following the investigation and court proceedings and based on the defendants’ confessions, the court sentenced Hemmati and Nik-Andish to death.
The unrest began late in December last year at Tehran’s historic Grand Bazaar, where a gathering of shopkeepers ignited a wave of demonstrations.
In the days that followed, the government intervened, and direct talks between President Masoud Pezeshkian and trade guilds eased tensions, bringing a relative calm by early January.
But this quiet was short-lived. On January 8 and 9, the riots surged once more; this time, spurred by overt foreign interference, most notably statements from US President Donald Trump.
According to the Iranian Judiciary’s Media Center, during the US-Israeli-backed coup attempt on January 8-9, 2026, widespread damage was inflicted upon the country, and thousands of innocent citizens and security forces were martyred.
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