It was a viral image of defiance at the very beginning of mass protests that would shake Iran.
In late December last year, a figure in black sat hunched in the middle of one of Tehran’s main streets, facing off against ranks of security forces on motorbikes.
The shaky video of the incident recalled the famous “Tank Man” protester on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, who single-handedly defied an armored column during pro-democracy protests in 1989 that were subsequently crushed by tanks.
In each case, it is not known what has happened to the lone protester.
But the man who shot the video in Tehran six months ago released a new video on June 1 confirming that, tomorrow, he will go to jail.
“I’m going to prison tomorrow so my 10-year sentence can start,” Masud Piyahu said in his video.
“The one thing I want to say is that I never denied that I filmed that scene that day on Jomhuri (Republic) street. But I had nothing to do with its spread and I never intended that video to be shared. Here’s hoping for better days,” he added.
Piyahu’s lawyers said he had posted the video on a private social media account and that other people had then shared it.
Shortly afterwards, simmering protests by Iranian shopkeepers protesting against economic hardships spread across the country — leading to a bloody crackdown in January in which security forces killed at least 7,000 people, according to human rights groups.
A Growing Crackdown
Iran has intensified its crackdown since US and Israeli air strikes began on February 28.
On June 1, two more men were executed for taking part in the January protests. The authorities say the two men, Mehrdad Mohammadinia and Ashkan Maleki, had set fire to a mosque and blocked streets.
US-based Iranian human rights lawyer Moein Khazaeli told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that they appeared to have been sentenced under a repressive new law that came into force in October last year after the 12-day war against Israel.
“At the time, we strongly criticized it…many legal scholars and lawyers, even inside Iran. We warned that if this law were enacted, we would face an unprecedented wave of executions in the Islamic Republic. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened,” Khazaeli said.
“The goal is to control society through fear and prevent further protests at a time when the Islamic Republic sees its own survival as being at risk,” he added.
These were the latest of some 40 executions of political prisoners since the beginning of the conflict with Israel and the United States.
Norway-based group Iran Human Rights described the crackdown as an “unprecedented surge” on June 1, calling for “firm and effective international action” to stop further executions.
The Hengaw organization, also based in Norway, said on June 1 that the executed men were “two Kurdish political prisoners.”
Hengaw said the executions were carried out in secret and that the two prisoners were denied a final meeting with their families before their deaths.
