Iran is set to execute a man on Wednesday for involvement in the protests sweeping the country over economic conditions and the Islamic Republic's 47-year clerical rule, rights groups said.
Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old resident of the northern city of Fardis, could become the first person to be put to death for participating in the protests.
He was arrested on Thursday, in connection with protests in the city, according to the Norway-based Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights.
US President Donald Trump was asked on CBS News about reports that Iran plans to start hanging protesters as early as Wednesday. "We'll see how that works out for [Iran]," he said. "It's not going to work out good."
Mr Soltani's family was notified four days after his arrest that the execution was scheduled for January 14, the organisation said in a statement. It added that the death sentence was issued following a “rapid and opaque” judicial process.
Hengaw added that Mr Soltani has been deprived of basic rights, including access to legal counsel. It said that his family has also been kept uninformed about the process.
A source close to the family added that Mr Soltani’s sister, who is a licensed lawyer, has been prevented from seeing the case file.
Iran Human Rights, another independent rights organisation based in Oslo, said Mr Soltani did not have legal representation and, as far as it is aware, no trial was conducted to hear his case.
The group said that Iranian authorities have described protesters as rioters, terrorists and agitators, linking them to Israel and the US, offences it are punishable by death.
Authorities have also vowed to deal with the protesters' cases “severely” and swiftly” in special branches of the revolutionary courts, it added.
Iran has experienced more than two weeks of nationwide protests. They were sparked by a currency crisis and worsening economic conditions, but have increasingly been aimed at political change.
The unrest marks the biggest challenge to the regime since its birth with the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
The Oslo-based human rights group said that at least 648 protesters, including nine children under the age of 18, have been killed, and thousands injured in 16 days of a wave of anti-government nationwide protests.
Iran has not given an official death toll, but it blames the bloodshed on US interference and what it calls Israeli and US-backed terrorists. State-run media has focused attention on the deaths of security forces.
