DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Monday it executed its second prisoner detained amid the nationwide protests now challenging the country's theocracy.

Iran's Mizan news agency, under the country's judiciary, identified the man executed as Majidreza Rahnavard. He had been convicted over allegedly stabbing two security force members to death Nov. 17 in Mashhad and wounding four others.

Iran executed the first prisoner detained amid the demonstrations Thursday.

The protests have expanded into one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Activists warn that others could also be put to death in the near future, saying around a dozen people so far have received death sentences over their involvement in the demonstrations.