Iran 'fears its own people,' says US after second execution in less than a week

Iran Anti-Hijab Protests: "We denounce this draconian treatment in the strongest terms," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

The United States denounced the second execution carried out in Iran over ongoing protests saying that the latest execution, carried out in public, showed that Iran's regime feared its own people.

Iran Anti-Hijab Protests: A woman holds a placard with a picture of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini during a protest against her death. (AP)

"We denounce this draconian treatment in the strongest terms," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

"These harsh sentences, and now the first public execution at least, are meant to intimidate Iran's people, they're meant to suppress dissent and they simply just underscore how much the Iranian leadership actually fears its own people," he added.

At the United Nations, spokesman Stephane Dujarric called for a halt to executions, saying "there's no place for capital punishment." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "believed that the circumstances of this were particularly cruel," Stephane Dujarric said.

Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, had been sentenced to death by a court in the city of Mashhad for killing two members of the security forces with a knife, and wounding four other people, the judiciary's Mizan Online news agency reported.

Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged in public in the city, rather than inside prison. This comes as Iran has been rocked by protests since September when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was detained by Iran's morality police and allegedly beaten up for not wearing her hijab properly. Her custodial death caused an uproar that resulted in protests that have even called for Iran's government to step down.