Iran carried out the death sentence Saturday against former opposition leader Ruhollah Zam, after confirming his role in a wave of protests against the Iranian authorities in the winter of 2017-2018.

State television said that the "anti-revolutionary" Zem was executed by hanging Saturday morning, just days after the Supreme Court confirmed that he was sentenced due to the "seriousness of the crimes" he committed against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Amnesty International said in a tweet that the carrying out of the death penalty of "journalist and dissident" Zam constitutes "a shocking escalation in Iran's use of the death penalty as a means of repression."

Zam lived in exile in France for several years before being arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard under mysterious circumstances.

His arrest was announced in October 2019, but Iran did not specify the place or time of his arrest, accusing the 40-year-old opposition leader of being "run by French intelligence and supported" by US and Israeli Occupation intelligence.

- 'Spoiling on Earth' -

Zam, who has refugee status in France, ran a channel on the messaging app "Telegram" called "Amad News," which Tehran accuses of playing an active role in moving the protest movement during the winter of 2017-2018.

At least 25 people were killed in the unrest that took place in dozens of Iranian cities between December 28, 2017 and January 3, 2018.

Tehran described this protest movement as "rebellion."

Telegram closed the account after Iran requested that it block the channel due to its incitement to an "armed rebellion."

The Zam trial began in February.

According to the text of the indictment, the dissident was charged with "corruption on earth," one of the most serious charges in the Islamic Republic that is punishable by death.

The official Iranian News Agency (IRNA) said that he was also convicted of spying for France and an unnamed country in the region, cooperating with the "hostile US government" and working against "the country's security," insulting the "sanctity of Islam" and inciting violence during the 2017 protests.

And the judiciary announced in June that he had been guilty of all charges against him.

At the start of his trial, Iranian state television broadcast a "documentary" on the topic of "Ruhollah Zam's Relations."

Iranian television said it was "under the protection of the intelligence services of several countries."

In another "interview" on state television, opposition Zam appeared saying that he believed the reformist ideas until he was imprisoned in 2009 during a major protest movement against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but he denied incitement to violence.

Amnesty International regularly calls on the Iranian authorities to stop broadcasting "televised confessions" of suspects, saying that these methods "violate the rights" of the accused.