He continued the statement by calling on Iranian authorities to release hundreds of Dervishes who are imprisoned for their beliefs, including their leader, Dr. Noorali Tabandeh, who has been under house arrest for at least the past four months and is in need of urgent medical attention.
The US State Department spokesperson also emphasized that the Iranian people deserve the rule of law, transparent and accountable governance, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, not the brutal punishments that have always been inherent in this regime.
A gathering of Gonabadi dervishes in front of the IRGC police station on February 4, 2017, to protest the arrest of an elderly dervish, turned violent with the intervention of plainclothes officers and police forces. During the clashes, several police officers and Basij were killed, and hundreds of Gonabadi dervishes were arrested.
Mr. Salas was accused of driving a bus into a line of officers, causing the deaths of three people.
The release of news of his execution has sparked widespread reactions from human rights organizations, political figures, civil society activists, and social media users.
Amnesty International tweeted that it was "shocking to hear of the execution of Mohamed Salah," and that his trial was unfair. The organization had also called for efforts to prevent Mohamed Salah's execution in previous tweets.
The Iranian Center for Human Rights also reacted to the execution of Mohammad Salas' sentence in several tweets, writing that Mr. Salas had been tortured and forced to confess against himself.
The center echoed the statements of his lawyer, who said that Mr. Salas had been severely beaten and injured during interrogation and that he was unaware of what was happening during the interrogation.
The daughter and son of this dervish sentenced to death on Saturday, June 16, once again emphasized their father's innocence in a video posted on social media and called on all domestic and international organizations to spare no effort to retry his case.
Narges Salas, the daughter of the death-sentenced dervish, said in an interview with the Persian service of the Voice of America on Saturday that a retrial of his case will be filed again.
Late Saturday, prison officials asked Mohammad Salas' family to visit him for a final visit. Mohammad Salas' lawyer had previously stated that the officers severely beat his client and forced him to confess against himself.
In this regard, Kasra Nouri, a imprisoned dervish, reported in an audio file about the sit-in of the dervish prisoners in Tehran's Grand Prison, protesting the death sentence of Mohammad Salas and the injustice in the handling of the dervish case.
The repression and imprisonment of the Gonabadi Dervishes drew criticism from human rights organizations and the US State Department. Prince Reza Pahlavi was among those who protested the three-judge ruling.
