TEHRAN
\nA prominent dissident Sunni Muslim cleric urged Iranian authorities on Friday to free thousands of detained protesters and stop executions as the three-month-old unrest churned on with street marches in a restive southeastern province.
\nAmnesty International said 26 people faced possible execution after the Islamic Republic hanged two people arrested over the protests that erupted after the death in police custody of young Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16.
\nThe unrest, in which demonstrators from all walks of life have called for the fall of Iran\u2019s ruling theocracy, poses one of the biggest challenges to the Shi\u2019ite Muslim-ruled Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
\n\u201cAt least 26 people are at great risk of execution in connection with nationwide protests after Iranian authorities arbitrarily executed two individuals following grossly unfair sham trials in a bid to instil fear among the public and end protests,\u201d Amnesty International said in a statement.
\n\u201cOf the 26, at least 11 are sentenced to death and 15 are charged with capital offences and awaiting or undergoing trials,\u201d it said.
\nMolavi Abdolhamid, an outspoken Sunni cleric, criticised the death sentences, according to his website.
\n\u201cWe compassionately recommend that you release the recent prisoners who were detained during these protests and not treat them harshly. Most of them are young and very young. Free the young men and women,\u201d Molavi Abdolhamid said.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t charge them with (capital offences), and if they are, they should not be sentenced to death and put to death,\u201d the cleric said in a Friday prayers sermon.
\nAfter the sermon, demonstrators took to the streets of Zahedan, capital of impoverished Sistan-Baluchistan province in the southeast. \u201cThis nation wants freedom, it wants a prosperous country!\u201d they chanted, in videos posted on social media. Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.
\nIn continued unrest in other parts of Iran, unidentified attackers damaged a mosque in western Lorestan province early on Friday by throwing petrol bombs, state media reported.
\nAccording to the activist HRANA news agency, 495 protesters have been killed as of Thursday, including 68 minors. Sixty-two members of the security forces have also been killed. It said more than 18,400 are estimated to have been arrested.
\nOn Wednesday, Iran was ousted from a United Nations women\u2019s group for policies contrary to the rights of women and girls, a move proposed by the United States over Tehran\u2019s violent crackdown on protests often led by women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TEHRAN A prominent dissident Sunni Muslim cleric urged Iranian authorities on Friday to free thousands of detained protesters and stop executions as the three-month-old unrest churned on with street marches in a restive southeastern province. Amnesty International said 26 people faced possible execution after the Islamic Republic hanged two people arrested over the protests that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-302015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n