Iran urges protesters to turn themselves in, warns of executions as internet blackout continues

TEHRAN, Iran (DPN) — Iran's national police chief on Monday issued a three-day ultimatum to participants in weeks-long nationwide protests, urging those he described as "deceived" young people to surrender themselves for leniency while warning that others would face the full force of the law.

National Police Chief Ahmad-Reza Radan appeared on state television to declare that individuals who "became unwittingly involved in the riots" would be treated as "deceived individuals, not enemy soldiers" and receive lighter punishment if they turned themselves in within three days. Those who fail to comply, he said, would confront severe consequences under Iranian law.

"Swift and timely punishment"

The statement came as judiciary officials emphasized swift and harsh penalties for those involved in what authorities label as "riots." Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei described protesters as "rioters and troublemakers" and stressed that cases would be handled rapidly, with "swift and timely implementation of punishment" as a key deterrent.

Charges such as "enmity against God" (moharebeh), which can carry the death penalty, remain possible for serious offenses, though Iranian officials have denied immediate plans for widespread executions in some public statements.

The ultimatum follows more than three weeks of demonstrations that erupted in late December 2025 over economic grievances and rapidly expanded into broad anti-government unrest, marking one of the most significant challenges to the Islamic Republic in decades.

Rights groups and activists report thousands killed in the crackdown, with estimates ranging from over 3,000 documented deaths by U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) to Iranian officials acknowledging at least 5,000 total fatalities, including around 500 security personnel.

Internet, Starlink

A near-total nationwide internet blackout, now in its 12th day as of Tuesday, has severely restricted information flow, communication and verification of events. Internet monitoring organization NetBlocks reported minimal global connectivity, with only partial restoration of some domestic services under heavy filtering.

Authorities have indicated that full access may resume when "security conditions are appropriate," amid suggestions of a shift toward a more controlled "filternet" system.

Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service has emerged as a critical, albeit limited, lifeline for some Iranians amid the nationwide internet blackout imposed since January 8, 2026, during widespread anti-government protests.

The service, provided by SpaceX via a constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites, bypasses Iran's state-controlled terrestrial networks, allowing users with smuggled Starlink terminals to access uncensored internet and share footage of the unrest with the outside world.

Activists and rights groups credit Starlink with enabling much of the video, images, and eyewitness accounts that have reached international media despite connectivity dropping to 1-2% of normal levels, according to monitoring organization NetBlocks.

However, Starlink's role remains constrained. The regime has aggressively countered it through military-grade jamming of GPS and satellite signals, leading to packet loss of 30-80% in affected areas and rendering connections unreliable or impossible in many urban centers.

Authorities have conducted door-to-door raids, used drones to scan rooftops for dishes, and confiscated equipment, framing Starlink use as aiding "foreign enemies" or "terrorism."

A potential trigger

The protests have drawn international attention, including warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump against mass executions, which he described as a potential trigger for strong action. Iranian officials have pushed back, framing the unrest as influenced by foreign enemies and denying plans for large-scale hangings while promising retaliation against any external intervention.

Mass arrests continue, with families of detainees and slain protesters facing pressure, and security forces maintaining heavy deployments in cities, hospitals and morgues. The situation remains tense, with no major new street demonstrations reported in recent days amid the communications restrictions and crackdown.

Human rights organizations have condemned the blackout and threats of capital punishment as tools of state intimidation, warning that expedited trials could lead to death sentences for protesters.

Source: DPN, Agencies, X postings, AI, January 20, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

Alabama executes Jeremy Williams

Tennessee and Oklahoma have put inmates to death within 30 minutes of each other, and Alabama followed suit hours later as U.S. states executed three men in one day. Tennessee and Oklahoma put inmates to death within 30 minutes of each other Thursday, and Alabama followed suit hours later as U.S. states executed three men by lethal injection in one day for the first time since 2010. The Tennessee man was executed for killing a maid at a motel in 1985, and the Oklahoma man for killing his girlfriend in 2003. In Alabama, a man was put to death Thursday evening for killing a 5-year-old girl he had paid her mother to abuse.

Tennessee executes Darrell Hines

The state has spent millions of dollars over decades to execute a seriously ill man who was already incarcerated. The state of Tennessee executed death row inmate Darrell Hines Thursday morning, according to an advocacy group. No formal announcement of the execution has been issued by state leaders yet. The execution was slated for 10 a.m. Thursday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. [DPN update] Hines was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. CDT. His last meal was fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, corn, fries, biscuits, a chicken sandwich, chocolate chip cake, and sweet tea.

Alabama Set To Carry Out Execution This Week

Alabama is preparing to execute Jeremy Williams, who pled guilty to the 2021 rape and murder of five-year-old Kamarie Holland. The execution is scheduled for Thursday (August 13) at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. Williams, who is 41, requested the death penalty and waived his right to appeal, making this the first execution in Alabama this year.

Oklahoma executes Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez

Oklahoma has carried out 1 of 3 executions set for the same day in the United States in another sign of the resurgence of the death penalty in the country. Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez was pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He was put to death by lethal injection for the murder of his common-law wife in 2003 at their Oklahoma City home. He admitted to police he shot her twice during an argument. Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, did not fight for his life, stunning his attorneys in July when he told the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board that he didn't want clemency. "It's time for me to pay for what I did," he said.

Tennessee set to execute Anthony Darrell Hines

Barring any last-minute interventions, the Tennessee Department of Correction will execute Anthony Darrell Hines by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville Thursday morning. This week, two courts had the opportunity to halt the execution: the federal court in Middle Tennessee and the U.S. Supreme Court. Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday he personally would not prevent the execution. “After deliberate consideration of Anthony Darrell Hines’ request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene,” he said in a written statement. The U.S. Supreme Court has not granted a stay or reprieve.

Tennessee | The doctor who helps put prisoners to death

Dr. Mark Fowler assisted in the failed execution of a Tennessee prisoner. Physicians are meant to heal patients—why is he working in the death chamber? Mark Fowler, a physician with 25 years’ experience, stepped beneath the bright lights and approached the middle-aged man lying on a gurney. Around him, people in medical gowns prepared needles and sterile tubing. It had all the appearances of a hospital setting. Fowler had been called in to help establish an IV line through which the 57-year-old man, Tony Carruthers, would be injected with pharmaceutical drugs. The team had struggled to find a vein, so Fowler was summoned to set a central line—an intravenous catheter inserted into the major vein below the collarbone.

Iran’s War on Women: Executions, Floggings, and the Politics of Fear

The Iranian regime is increasingly using death sentences, corporal punishment, and judicial persecution against women—not only to silence dissent but also to intimidate a society demanding change. The Iranian regime has long viewed women as central to the country’s struggle for freedom—and therefore as central targets of repression. The nationwide uprising of 2022 fundamentally altered the political landscape, demonstrating that Iranian women were no longer merely participants in protest movements but among their principal organizers and symbols. Since then, the authorities have steadily intensified their campaign against women, expanding the use of executions, imprisonment, corporal punishment, and judicial intimidation.

The 'Black Widow' shakes Iran: 10 death sentences for a serial killer who killed 12 men

Kolthum Akbari, an Iranian woman widely dubbed the “Black Widow,” was convicted of serial murders of elderly men she married, often temporarily. Official accounts generally center on 11 murders (plus one attempted murder), though Akbari herself gave varying figures and investigations suggested she had many more marriages. The sentencing occurred primarily in September 2025 in Mazandaran Province, with ongoing reporting and updates into 2026. The 56- to 59-year-old killer confessed to killing at least 11 elderly men after temporarily or officially marrying them; Iranian authorities have linked her to additional marriages and possible further victims.

Arizona prosecutors seek death penalty a second time for 2 inmates

County Attorney Brad Miller said Aug. 6 that the nature of the attack and both men's past criminal records meet the strict legal bar required for execution under Arizona law. FLORENCE, Ariz. - Pinal County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against two inmates accused of violently killing a fellow prisoner behind bars, officials announced Thursday. Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller filed a Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty against Pete Van Winkle and Tracy Hampton in connection with the fatal attack on Kenneth Thompson.

Iran | Executions in Tabriz, Zanjan, Qazvin

Iranian authorities executed at least three prisoners, including two Turks, identified as Amrollah Dousti, Hojjat Khayat, and Yousef Bagheri, in Tabriz and Zanjan Central Prisons. Dousti and Khayat were executed on drug-related charges, while Bagheri was executed for “premeditated murder.” According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Dousti, 40, from Bandar Abbas and a father of two, and Khayat, 51, from Tabriz and a father of three, were executed in Tabriz Central Prison on Sunday, August 9, 2026.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog