On Monday, Iran carried out the execution of four individuals accused of espionage cooperation with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, alleging their involvement in a plot to sabotage an Iranian defense facility.
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The executed individuals, identified as Mohammad Faramarzi, Mohsen Mazloum, Vafa Azarbar, and Pejman Fatehi, were arrested in mid-2022 and convicted of planning a bombing operation at a factory affiliated with Iran’s defense ministry in the city of Isfahan.
The Supreme Court rejected their appeals, leading to the execution. The executed individuals were identified as Mohammad Faramarzi, Mohsen Mazloum, Vafa Azarbar, and Pejman Fatehi.
The official IRNA news agency stated that the men were accused of illegally entering Iranian territory from Iraq’s Kurdistan region to carry out a bombing operation at a factory in Isfahan.
The facility was reported to be with Iran’s defense ministry and involved in the production of missile and defense equipment.
According to Iranian authorities, the operation was showed by Mossad, and the four individuals were allegedly trained by the Israeli agency in an African country before Iran.
The execution was carried out after the Supreme Court upheld their death sentences, which were initially handed down by another court in September.
The report did not specify the method used for the executions, but it’s customary in Iran to carry out such sentences through hanging.
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The Iranian security forces arrested the four men in mid-2022, accusing them of plotting to bomb a factory in Najafabad affiliated with the defense ministry.
The individuals were convicted of forming and managing a terrorist group with the plan of disrupting the country’s security and were sentenced to death last September for espionage cooperation in favor of the Israeli regime.
Iran Human Rights contested the official narrative, claiming that the four men were Kurdish political prisoners who were denied a fair judicial process.
According to the wife of one of the men, they had traveled to Urmia city in June 2022 for political activities on behalf of the Komala party, a social democratic Kurdish party, when they were arrested.
The Komala party confirmed the executions on Monday, saying that the men were not spies but political activists.
In December, another four people three men and one woman were executed for their alleged links to Mossad, charged with arson and kidnapping Iranian security personnel.
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Additionally, in December 2022, four more individuals were hanged after being convicted of working with Israeli intelligence.
Iran has one of the highest execution rates globally, and the wave of executions has concerns among human rights organizations.
According to Iran Human Rights, 65 people have been executed since the beginning of the year. This includes a 23-year-old who was executed last week for his participation in the Mahsa Amini-inspired anti-government protests of 2022.
The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, criticized Iran’s abominable track record of executions, with an average of more than 10 people hanged each week.
Last year, at least 834 people were executed in Iran, according to the UN human rights agency. Iran and Israel has a history of bilateral relations, by tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.
The situation has deteriorated with the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which began on October 7. The conflict has resulted in conflicts between Iran, supporting groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, and Israel, backed by the U.S. and the U.K.
Proxy conflicts have extended beyond Israel and Gaza, with Iran firing missiles at suspected Mossad-linked targets in Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan.
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