Iran executes second detainee over alleged protest crime

Iran said Monday it executed its second prisoner detained amid the nationwide protests now challenging the country's theocracy, airing footage on state television it claimed showed him stabbing a man to death and running away.

The execution of Majidreza Rahnavard, less than a month after he allegedly carried out the fatal stabbings of two security officials, shows the speed at which Iran now carries out death sentences for those detained in the demonstrations the government hopes to put down.

Activists warn that at least a dozen people already have been sentenced to death in closed-door hearings. At least 488 people have been killed since the demonstrations began in mid-September, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that's been monitoring the protests. Another 18,200 people have been detained by authorities.

Iran's Mizan news agency, under the country's judiciary, alleged Rahnavard stabbed two security force members to death November 17 in Mashhad and wounded four others.

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Footage aired on state TV showed a man chasing another around a street corner, then standing over him and stabbing him after he fell against a parked motorbike. The assailant, which state TV alleged was Rahnavard, then fled.

The Mizan report identified the dead as "student" Basij, paramilitary volunteers under Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The Basij (ba-SEEJ') have deployed in major cities, attacking and detaining protesters, who in many cases have fought back.

The Mizan report offered no motive for Rahnavard's alleged attack. The report accused Rahnavard of trying to flee to a foreign country when he was arrested.