Iran: Judiciary halts execution of three protesters amid social media protests

Authorities in Iran have reportedly halted the impending execution of three anti-government protesters amid social media protests.

The internet access in Iran was disrupted on Wednesday after a social media campaign using Persian hashtag #do_not_execute was used 7.5 million times against the country's death penalty.

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The campaign went viral and a broad range of groups and activists took up the call, including exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi who circulated the English version of the hashtag: #StopExecutionsInIran. Pahlavi is the son of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who was deposed by the Iranian Revolution.

It happened after it was announced on Tuesday that the Supreme Court had upheld their death sentences.

Iranian service providers linked to the regime's security services began slowing connection speeds according to Internet monitoring groups such as NetBlocks.org, one such watchdog.

NetBlocks describing the incident as having a "partial impact" across multiple providers and said Wednesday that the disruption lasted for around three hours.

However, it was due to the campaign that a retrial has been ordered giving Amirhossein Moradi, Mohammad Rajabi and Saeed Tamjidi an opportunity to prove their innocence.

Lawyers for the three men have been informed that they can for the first time examine the court papers and evidence against their clients.

Iran on Tuesday executed two people convicted of involvement in a 2010 bomb attack that killed a dozen people, the Islamic republic's judiciary said.