The death sentence is rarely sanctioned for blasphemy (Picture: Getty Images)
Two men have been hanged in Iran after they were convicted of blasphemy.
Both men died at Arak Prison in central Iran after months of solitary confinement and no contact with their families, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The rare death sentence for the crime was sanctioned for the pair who have been named as Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare.
Iran remains one of the world’s top executioners as the number of people succumbing to the death penalty across the country continues to surge following months of unrest.
At least 203 prisoners have now been put to death since the start of this year alone in a court system overseen by president Ebrahim Raisi, according to the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights.
But carrying out executions for blasphemy has remained rare with previous cases seeing sentences reduced.
It’s reported the men had been arrested in May 2020 after they were accused of being involved in a Telegram channel called Critique of Superstition and Religion.
Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi oversees a court system which has seen hundreds of prisoners killed
The Mizan news agency confirmed the executions and described how the two men are alleged to have insulted Islam’s Prophet Mohammed and promoted atheism.
Mizan also accused them of burning a Koran, Islam’s holy book, although it’s not clear whether that was an allegation or if they had shared images of it on Telegram.
Iran Human Rights leader Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam condemned the executions and said they exposed the ‘medieval nature’ of Iran’s theocracy.
He said: ‘The international community must show with its reaction that executions for expressing an opinion is intolerable.
‘The refusal of the international community to react decisively is a green light for the Iranian government and all their like-minded people around the world.’
Powerful protests have been carried out worldwide to stop executions in Iran (Picture: Shutterstock)
It’s not clear when Iran carried out its last execution for blasphemy offences.
Other countries in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, also allow for death sentences to be imposed for blasphemy.
Iran executed at least 582 people in 2022, up from 333 people in 2021, according to Iran Human Rights.
Amnesty International’s most recent report shows Iran carries out the second highest number of executions, behind only China, where thousands are believed to be put to death a year.
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The streak of executions, including members of ethnic minority groups in Iran, comes after months of protests over the death of Mahsa Amini in September last year.
The 22-year-old died after her arrest by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating a mandatory hijab law by wearing it ‘improperly’.
It sparked major protests, with more than 500 people killed and 19,000 others arrested in the clashes, which marked one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
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They died after months of solitary confinement and no contact with family.