Tehran, Dec 13 (IANS): In a second execution linked to the recent anti-government protests in Iran, a 23-year-old convicted of "enmity against God" was publicly hanged in the city of Mashhad, the media reported.

According to the judiciary, Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged on Monday, the BBC reported.

Rahnavard was executed just 23 days after he was arrested and charged of stabbing to death two members of the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force.

The BBC report said that his mother was not told of the execution until after his death and the family was then given the name of a cemetery and a plot number.

"When they turned up, security agents were burying his body," the report added.

On Twitter, opposition activist collective '1500tasvir' said that Rahnavard's family were telephoned by an official at 7 a.m. on Monday morning and told: "We have killed your son and buried his body in Behesht-e Reza cemetery."

"They allowed Rahnavard's mother to visit him, and didn't speak of execution at all. She left smiling and hoping that her son would be released soon.

"This morning (Monday) she arrived when her son's murderers were burying his dead body alone," the collective said in another tweet.

The judiciary's Mizan news agency said Rahnavard was hanged "in the presence of a group of Mashhadi citizens" and posted several photographs reportedly showing the execution.

The BBC said that he was denied a lawyer of his choice for his trial. "The lawyer he was given did not put up a defence," it said.

The women-led protests against Iran's clerical establishment were sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by morality police on September 13 for allegedly wearing her hijab "improperly".

They have spread to 161 cities in all 31 provinces and are seen as one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.

Iran's leaders have portrayed the protests as "riots" instigated by the country's foreign enemies.

The first execution linked to the protests took place on December 8. Mohsen Shekari, 23, was convicted of "enmity against God" after being found to have attacked a Basij member with a machete in Tehran.

So far, at least 488 protesters have been killed by security forces and 18,259 others have been detained, according to the Human Rights Activists' News Agency (HRANA).

It has also reported the deaths of 62 security personnel.