Human rights groups have said they were convicted after grossly unfair sham trials. Mohammad Mehdi Karami, a 22-year-old karate champion, was hanged on 7 January, just 65 days after his arrest.

The UN human rights office deplored the "shocking" executions of Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, which it said followed "unfair trials based on forced confessions". A ...