Iranian courts convicted 16 people for assassinating a volunteer force member in early November and issued preliminary death sentences to five, semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported on Tuesday.

While announcing at a press conference, Iranian judiciary spokesman Masoud Setayeshi said 11 other convicts were sentenced to imprisonment, including three minors.

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Alborz Province and a criminal court made the rulings earlier on Monday after respectively trying the adult and under-aged arrestees for the offence, Mr Setayeshi said.

He noted that the rulings were not final yet, meaning the convicts could seek an appeal.

Mr Setayeshi added that those who have been given death sentences were also charged with “corruption on earth,” a term used by Iranian authorities to refer to a range of offences, including those related to violating Islamic codes, which is punishable by death.

The 16 individuals were arrested on November 12 for their involvement in killing Ruhollah Ajamian, a Basij member, who died in a stabbing attack in November.

However, protests have erupted in Iran after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in a Tehran hospital on September 16, a few days after her collapse at a police station.

Meanwhile, Iran has accused the United States and other Western countries of inciting riots and supporting terrorists. 

(Xinhua/NAN)