Second Iranian Protester Executed as Government Shifts Its Response

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

47% : "A system that treats its people in this way cannot expect to continue to have halfway normal relations with the European Union."
45% : Its return suggested Iran was testing the response by foreign governments and by the protesters themselves, he said.
43% : Iran "is choosing to double down on its heavy-handed approach using a mix of military force, surveillance and detentions to scare people into submission," said Sanam Vakil, a Middle East expert at Chatham House, a London-based think tank.
43% : The EU also placed a travel ban and an asset freeze on four people allegedly linked to the delivery of Iranian drones, including Brig.
41% : "It's a brutal way of execution and it sends a message, but they are aware that it might cause a backlash and they are assessing the reaction," he said.
41% : A dozen people detained in connection are believed to be facing the death penalty, according to Mr. Amiry-Moghaddam, though it was unclear if that number included the two Iranians who have already had their death sentences carried out.
40% : Hanging a defendant on a crane only days after his conviction is a tactic aimed at instilling fear that Iran commonly used in putting down previous protests.
38% : Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, said Monday that Iran recognized the right to criticize the government and to peaceful protests.
37% : The execution of 23-year-old Majidreza Rahnavard, less than a month after the alleged stabbings and only four days after he was convicted, highlighted a tactical shift for Tehran in recent days.
34% : "We are making clear that we stand beside innocent people in Iran," Ms. Baerbock said ahead of a European Union meeting on Iran, according to the Associated Press.
32% : the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the state-owned broadcasting company that has produced and broadcast forced confessions of detainees, the EU said.
25% : Last Thursday, Iran hanged a man identified as Mohsen Shekari, who had been convicted of injuring a security guard with a knife and blocking a street in Tehran, the first such execution after thousands of arrests over the unrest, drawing a chorus of Western condemnation.
19% : The U.N. Human Rights Council has accused Iran of using the death penalty to squash protests.

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