Four Iranians Tehran Accused Of Spying For Israel Executed
Four Iranians -- three men and one woman -- have been executed after being accused of spying for Israel, the Mizan news agency said.
Wafa Hanareh, Aram Omri, Rahman Parhazo, and Nasim Namazi were charged and found guilty of "enmity against God and corruption on Earth," for their alleged involvement in intelligence cooperation with Israel's Mossad, Mizan, which is affiliated with the judiciary, said on December 29.
They were originally sentenced to death in February 2023.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network said that according to a family member of one of the four prisoners, the death sentences were carried out even though their lawyers had filed for a retrial with the same court and also submitted a petition to the Amnesty and Clemency Commission.
"Amid the review of these appeals, the prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement in Tehran, where they were executed, presumably as an act of retribution against Israel," the family member said.
Human rights groups have accused the Iranian authorities of torturing the four during their detention.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network released an audio file purportedly from two of the prisoners, detailing physical and psychological torture, including threats of assault and family member arrests, to extract forced confessions.
Meanwhile, the Norway-based human rights organization Hengaw condemned the executions and urged the global community to react, saying the punishments were "not only a clear violation of the right to life and human dignity but also a gross disregard of international laws and human rights principles."
Roya Boroumand, executive director of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, a Washington-based organization specializing in Iranian human rights research, also condemned the executions.
"In the absence of an independent judiciary, due process, transparency, and accountability, these sentences have no legitimacy," Boroumand said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The executions come shortly after the death of Razi Musavi, a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, fueling speculation about potential retaliatory motives.
Iran and Israel have been engaged in a years-long shadow war. Tensions have been exacerbated by the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, which has been deemed a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
Tehran has long supported Hamas, though the relationship has been at times difficult.
Meanwhile, the rate of executions in Iran has been rising sharply, particularly in the wake of the widespread protests triggered by Mahsa Amini's death.
Iran Human Rights said that, as of December 2023, more than 700 people had been executed in Iran, with a marked increase in recent months.
Amnesty International says the regime in Tehran has executed more people than any other country in the world other than China so far this year.