Iran executes protesters amid systemic repression: judicial violence as state control tactic in post-revolutionary governance
Original framing: “Iran executes two men involved in January protests judiciary news outlet says - Reuters” — Reuters (via Google News)
Iran's use of executions as a tool of state control has deep historical roots, particularly in the post-revolutionary era. The 1988 mass executions of political prisoners, authorized by Ayatollah Khomeini, set a precedent for using judicial violence to eliminate dissent. This historical pattern reveals a systemic reliance on executions as a mechanism of governance, rather than an aberration. Comparing Iran's approach to other revolutionary states, such as France during its Reign of Terror, underscores how executions are often used to consolidate power in times of perceived crisis.
The executions of Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini are not isolated judicial acts but emblematic of Iran's long-standing strategy of using state violence to suppress dissent and maintain control.
This pattern is rooted in the post-revolutionary governance model, where executions serve as performative spectacles to deter collective action, a tactic shared by other authoritarian regimes across cultural contexts. The framing of these events by Western media, such as Reuters, obscures the historical and systemic dimensions of state repression, instead reinforcing a binary of 'civilized' Western governance versus 'barbaric' authoritarianism. Marginalized voices, including women, ethnic minorities, and labor activists, are disproportionately targeted in this cycle of violence, yet their perspectives are systematically excluded from mainstream narratives. A systemic solution requires addressing the root causes of unrest—economic inequality, political disenfranchisement, and structural discrimination—while promoting restorative justice models and international engagement that prioritizes accountability over isolation. Only by centering marginalized voices and challenging the normalization of state violence can a path toward sustainable peace and justice be forged.