Iran hangs two more political prisoners

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran has executed two more individuals accused of links to an opposition group and involvement in attacks on state institutions, according to state media.

“Two enemy elements inside the country who participated in numerous terrorist operations in Tehran were hanged after the legal process, and the Supreme Court's verdict was confirmed,” Iran’s state broadcaster said in an announcement.

The executions follow a series of similar actions by Iranian authorities in recent weeks amid its ongoing war with the US and Israel, including cases tied to alleged espionage for Israel, participation in January’s nationwide protests and links to dissident groups.

The broadcaster said the two were in contact with a leader of the dissident Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO/MEK), a leftist Islamist group established before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, and had carried out attacks on “sensitive centers and public places using launchers.”

The Iran Human Rights Society said families of political prisoners gathered outside Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, holding placards reading “no to execution” and carrying photos of detained relatives, according to videos it said showed the scene.

The group said six political prisoners - Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi Bistuni, Vahid Bani Amerian, Seyyed Abolhassan Montazer, Seyyed Mohammad Taghavi and Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar - were sentenced to “death, imprisonment, and exile” by Judge Iman Afshari of Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

Alipour was arrested in early 2024 and transferred to Evin Prison. He had previously been detained in November 2018 with his brother and sentenced to several years in prison on charges of alleged membership in the MKO and “insulting the leadership.”

Ghobadi was arrested in February 2024 while attempting to cross the northwestern border in Chaldoran country. He was initially held in Maku prison in West Azerbaijan province before being transferred to Evin Prison in March 2024, where he was detained for several months. He had previously been arrested in Tehran in May 2018 and sentenced in two separate cases to a total of 18 years in prison.

Tehran has repeatedly faced accusations from human rights organizations of carrying out executions following unfair and secretive trials, including on charges related to alleged espionage for Israel and the United States.

Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported that two other men were executed on Monday over alleged involvement in the January protests and links to the MKO.

In mid-March, Iran also executed a man accused of spying for Israel, following warnings by officials against public dissent.

Around the same time, Tehran executed three men convicted of killing two police officers in connection with the protests, described as the largest and deadliest unrest since the 1979 revolution. The demonstrations were driven by a severe economic crisis and the rapid depreciation of the Iranian rial.

Iranian security forces have detained hundreds of people for posting photos and videos of the aftermath of airstrikes carried out by Israel and the US since February 28.

Iran carried out at least 1,639 executions last year, including some in public squares, according to Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO).