AFP reports:

Iran was slapped with new sanctions Friday and activists called for fresh protests after the Islamic republic carried out its first execution over demonstrations that have shaken the regime for nearly three months.

Mohsen Shekari, 23, was hanged Thursday after being convicted of “moharebeh” — or “enmity against God” — after what rights groups denounced as a show trial.

The judiciary said Shekari was arrested after blocking a Tehran street and wounding a member of the Basij, a paramilitary force linked to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran said it was exercising “utmost restraint” in the face of the protests that flared over the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress code for women.

Britain announced sanctions against 30 targets, including officials in Iran whom it accused of pursuing “egregious sentences” against protesters.

Canada imposed sanctions on 22 senior members of Iran’s judiciary, prison system and police, as well top aides to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

European diplomats said the EU was also set to impose more punitive measures on Iran over the deadly crackdown that has killed at least 458 people, including more than 60 children, according to Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR). [Continue reading…]