IRAN has executed a second prisoner who was detained and convicted amid nationwide protests, the country’s judiciary said yesterday.

State television showed footage purportedly showing the executed man, Majidreza Rahnavard, stabbing two security force members to death in the north-eastern city of Mashhad and wounding four others before running away on November 17.

Activists say that at least a dozen people have also been sentenced to death in closed-door hearings.

At least 488 people have reportedly been killed since the demonstrations began in mid-September, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group monitoring the protests.

Another 18,200 people are said to have been detained by the authorities.

The Mizan news agency identified the victims of Mr Rahnavard’s alleged attack as “student” Basij, paramilitary volunteers in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

The Basij have deployed in major cities, attacking and detaining protesters.

The Mizan report claimed that Mr Rahnavard had been trying to flee to a foreign country when he was arrested.

According to activists, there have been strikes, shops closures and demonstrations in Mashhad during the current unrest, which began with protest against the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by Iran’s so-called morality police.