Iran: The EU Must Apply Magnitsky Act For Ebrahim Raisi’s Role In The 1988 Massacre On Monday, three death sentences were carried out in one prison facility in Iran. Over the previous ten days, at least 15 other individuals were hanged in different prisons, thereby establishing a pace of executions that is sure to continue if not accelerate following this week’s inauguration of the regime’s president Ebrahim Raisi. The new president previously served from March 2019 onward as head of the Iranian regime’s judiciary. In that role, he oversaw a notable expansion in usage of the death penalty by a government that was already notorious for having the world’s highest annual rate of executions per capita. Among other things, the judiciary under Raisi’s leadership carried out its first execution in years for a person accused only of drinking alcohol. Following a popular uprising in November 2019, it also undertook a campaign of systematic, months-long torture, following initial clashes in which roughly 1,500 peaceful protesters were killed.