Iran to Execute First Female Protester as Regime Escalates Terror Tactics
Bita Hemmati becomes Iran's first female protester sentenced to death as the regime executes 1,639 people in 2025. With 30,000 estimated dead in January protests, Iran's terror tactics escalate as external pressure mounts.
Bita Hemmati is about to be hanged. The first woman Iran has sentenced to death for her role in the January 2026 uprising, she will be executed alongside her husband and two neighbors who dared to challenge the regime's absolute control. This planned execution reveals a systematic campaign of state terror, not an isolated judicial action by a government that has executed 1,639 people in 2025 alone — the highest number since 1989.
The Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Hemmati and her husband, Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl, 34, in a collective death sentencing that also targeted neighbors Behrouz Zamaninejad and Kourosh Zamaninejad. Judge Iman Afshari ordered their personal assets seized and imposed five years of discretionary imprisonment alongside the death sentences. No execution date has been announced, and reports suggest the hangings may occur publicly in Karaj.
At least seven people have already been executed in connection with the January protests, with 26 more sentenced to death. The regime is systematically eliminating dissent, not punishing individuals. Human Rights Activists News Agency verified at least 6,126 deaths during the January crackdown, with government officials estimating the toll could reach 30,000 on January 8-9 alone.
Iran carried out 1,639 executions in 2025, a 68 percent surge from the previous year, according to a joint report by Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty. The 48 women executed last year marked a 55 percent increase from 2024, the highest number in over two decades. The death penalty has transformed from a legal tool into a terror tactic.
The Revolutionary Court charged Hemmati and her husband with "operational action for the hostile government of the United States and hostile groups," "using explosives and weapons," and "throwing concrete blocks and incendiary materials." The regime's response to protest has been to hang demonstrators and charge them with treason against America.
HRANA obtained a copy of the verdict that "failed to detail how the defendants were involved in the allegations," according to The Jerusalem Post. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center stated the recording and broadcasting of forced confessions "constitutes a blatant violation of the defendant's rights."
The Center for Human Rights in Iran reported dozens of individuals arrested during the January protests "have been sentenced to death following grossly unfair, fast-tracked trials conducted without due process, access to independent counsel and reliance on torture-tainted forced 'confessions' as evidence."
This internal terror campaign escalates as external pressure mounts. The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports via the Strait of Hormuz began April 13, two days before Hemmati's death sentence was announced. The two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran expired today, April 21. The more the regime faces existential threats from outside, the more it kills from within.
Operation Epic Fury launched February 28 with nearly 900 strikes in the first 12 hours, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Over 10,200 U.S. air sorties have struck 13,000-plus targets, destroying 150-plus Iranian naval vessels. The Strait of Hormuz now operates at approximately 3.8 million barrels per day, down 95 percent from pre-war levels of 20 million.
The human cost continues to mount. HRANA verified 6,126 protesters killed in the January crackdown, with over 50,000 arrested. Iranian health ministry officials estimate the toll could be as high as 30,000 on January 8-9 alone. The regime's response to protest was to kill, and now it is killing again.
Iranian dissident Zia Nabavi stated, "Tyranny, war, sanctions, executions and imprisonment, all are tools for the destruction of Iran and the annihilation of its people's lives." The National Council of Resistance of Iran called on the United Nations and international bodies to take immediate action to save prisoners sentenced to death.
Dr. Sheila Nazarian, whose family fled Iran, told Fox News that "The only things that I'm hearing from Iran is that they don't want the bombs to stop. They are more afraid of this regime than they are of the targeted attacks." Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty warned in a joint report that if the Islamic Republic "survives the current crisis, there is a serious risk that executions will be used even more extensively as a tool of oppression and repression."
Iran's regime is not just punishing dissent — it is trying to extinguish the idea of resistance. Bita Hemmati is not an outlier. She is a message: if you dare to rise, we will hang you. And we will hang everyone you know.