ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Four people were executed in Iran on Sunday after being accused of working with Israel’s intelligence service, according to the judiciary.
Iranian state media reported that Hossein Ordukhanzadeh, Shahin Imani Mahmudabad, Milad Ashrafi, and Manochehr Shahbandi Bejandi were hanged for allegedly cooperating with Israeli intelligence (Mossad).
"This morning, the sentences of four main members of the gang of mobsters related to the Zionist intelligence service were executed,"Mizan online, the website of the country’s judiciary, said.
Three other people were sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison for possession of weapons and crimes against Iran’s national security, the website added.
In July, the judiciary had announced the arrest of a number of suspects it claimed were working with the Mossad. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced in October it had arrested an individual it accused of being a spy for Israel in the southeastern city of Kerman.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused foreign nations, mainly Israel, the United States, and European countries of being behind the recent wave of massive countrywide protests in the country that have triggered a violent crackdown by security forces.
The protests stemmed from the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in custody of the country’s so-called morality police in Tehran. At least 448 people have been killed in the protests according to Iran Human Rights Organization while thousands have been arrested.
Iran’s judiciary has previously reported that six people have been sentenced to death over the protests, with human rights groups warning that many other people on trial could be charged with crimes warranting the death penalty.
Iran and Israel have been engaged in a shadow war that has intensified following a series of high-profile assassinations blamed on Israel. Iranian fighters are also frequently targeted in suspected Israeli strikes in Damascus.
In December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on Iran to end human rights violations against minority religions, citing "harassment, intimidation, persecution, arbitrary arrests and detention" among other breaches.
