Iran sentences 18-year-old to death for protest involvement: report

Iran's judiciary has sentenced a teenager to death over his alleged involvement in ongoing protests in the country, according to reports Sunday.

Mehdi Mohammadi Fard, who is 18 years old, was sentenced to death by the first branch of the Sari Revolutionary Court in northern Iran on charges of 'corruption on earth' and 'waging a war against God', according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

According to HRANA, the court said Fard had helped organise a protest rally in the northern Iranian city of Nowshahr that occurred on 21 September - a few days after nationwide unrest was sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd arrested for wearing her hijab 'improperly' and allegedly fatally beaten while in custody.

Iran International reported that the teenager was arrested during protests in October.

Fard was given seven and a half years in prison for various other charges related to political dissent, HRANA said.

He was denied the right of access to a lawyer of his choice, it added.

A source close to the family was quoted as saying by HRANA that "all the confessions obtained from Mehdi during the interrogation were made under harassment and pressure".

Some 14,000 people have been arrested in Iran since the nationwide unrest began, the United Nations said in November.

At least two people have been executed by the state for participating in the protests.

One hundred more are facing execution for their alleged role in protests, according to the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights.

In a death toll issued before the New Year, IHR said 476 protesters have been killed amid the state security force crackdown.