The Head of the Justice Department of Isfahan Province Mohammad-Reza Habibi on Friday denied that the death sentences passed on five young protesters were to be carried out now.
A day earlier Habibi had told Mizan, the Judiciary's own news agency, that a final verdict in the case had not been issued.
The five young men were arrested in Isfahan, central Iran, for participating in widespread anti-government protests in late 2017 and early 2018.
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) Mohammad Bastami, Hadi Keyani (Kiani), Abbas Mohammadi, Majid Nazari Kondori, and Mehdi Salehi- Qaleh Shahrokhi, received "two death sentences" each for "waging war against God" and "taking up arms against the state".
Earlier this week the Director of the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization (IHRO), Mahmoud Amiry Moqaddam told Radio Farda that they had received reports that contact between the five prisoners and their families had been cut off and the prison and judicial officials had not responded to the relatives' concerns.
Tens of thousands of Iranian have condemned recent executions in Iran on social media and some activists say this has had an impact on the authorities.
Iran executed about 251 people last year, according to Amnesty International. In recent weeks, it has issued a series of death sentences, including in the case of a controversial Paris-based journalist, Ruhollah Zam. Iran also recently executed two Kurdish men in connection with an armed attack in 2010 and a man for repeatedly drinking alcohol and another who was convicted of spying for the CIA.
