According to local media reports, Iran carried out executions on Friday for four individuals and handed down prison sentences to several others over suspected ties with Israel’s Mossad security service. Mizan, a news outlet linked to the country’s judiciary, disclosed that three men-Vafa Hanareh, Aram Omari, and Rahman Parhazo-and one woman, Nasim Namazi, were executed on Friday morning. Although the method of execution wasn’t specified, Iran typically employs hanging.

The four individuals were charged with abducting Iranian security personnel to obtain intelligence information, as reported by Mizan. They were also accused of arson involving the vehicles and residences of Iranian intelligence agents. Additionally, the report mentioned that several others associated with the same group received ten-year prison terms, but detailed specifics were not provided.

These events unfolded less than a week after an alleged Israeli airstrike resulted in the death of a senior Iranian general in Syria. Iran and Israel h
ave a history of accusing each other of espionage and engaging in an ongoing covert conflict for years.

UN Chief Antonio Guterres previously raised concerns in November about Iran’s significantly high rate of executions, reporting at least 419 executions in the initial seven months of that year. Earlier this month, Iran claimed to have executed an Israeli Mossad spy for the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. Additionally, in January, Ali Reza Akbari, a former Iranian-British defense ministry employee, was executed on charges of collaboration with Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service.

In a separate incident in 2020, Iran executed an individual convicted of leaking information to the US and Israel concerning a prominent Islamic Revolutionary Guard general, later killed by a US drone strike in Iraq.
Source: National news agency – Lebanon