Iran has executed a man after finding him guilty of charges related to protests that swept the country last winter, the Iranian judiciary announced on Wednesday. "The death penalty against Mehdi Khanaki, a member of an active terrorist group during the protests, was carried out after confirmation by the supreme court," the judiciary's Mizan Online news website reported. At the end of December, protests against the cost of living in Iran spread rapidly across the country and expanded to include political demands. The protests were met by a crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands. Iranian authorities portrayed the protests as riots backed by the United States and Israel, and said the violence killed around 3,000 people. Mizan said on Wednesday that Khanaki was arrested on February 10 in Karaj, west of Tehran, while in possession of a large arsenal, adding that the arms had been used to carry out shootings in January. Khanaki "was condemned to death and the confiscation of all his property for having acted in favor of the Zionist and American regimes," the website said. The number of executions in Iran has surged since the start of the Middle East war on February 28, with a large number linked to the protests. According to Amnesty International, Iran conducts the second most executions of any country, after China.
