Iran said it executed two men Saturday convicted of allegedly killing a paramilitary volunteer during a demonstration. The latest executions aimed at halting the nationwide protests now challenging the country’s theocracy.

Iran's judiciary identified those executed as Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini, making it four men known to have been executed since the demonstrations began in September over the death of Mahsa Amini. All have faced internationally criticised, rapid, closed-door trials. The judiciary’s news agency said the men had been convicted of killing Ruhollah Ajamian, a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's volunteer Basij force, in the city of Karaj outside of Tehran on November 3.