Iran executes four over Israel 'collaboration', says judiciary

Six days after authorities had killed a man for identical charges, Iran’s judiciary said on Friday that four persons found guilty of espionage for Israel, the country’s worst enemy, had been hung.

“Four members of a sabotage group related to the Zionist regime (Israel)… were hanged this morning” in Iran’s northwestern province of West Azerbaijan, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported.

They were named as Vafa Hanareh, Aram Omari, Rahman Parhazo, and Nasim Namazi, a woman. They had all been found guilty of “moharebeh,” or waging war against God, and “corruption on Earth” due to their “collaboration with the Zionist regime.” They were all given the death penalty.

According to Mizan, the organisation “performed extensive actions against the security of the country under the guidance of the Mossad,” Israel’s intelligence service.

Iran and Israel have been fighting a covert war for many years since Iran does not acknowledge Israel.

A man accused of working with Mossad was also killed on December 16 in the Sistan-Baluchistan region in the southeast.

The judiciary at the time did not identify the man but said he had been convicted of “intelligence cooperation and espionage for the benefit for the hostile Zionist regime”.

In December 2022, the Islamic republic hanged another four people who had been convicted of collaborating with Israel’s intelligence services.

Tehran accuses Israel of carrying out a wave of sabotage attacks and assassinations targeting its nuclear programme.

According to rights groups including Amnesty International, Iran executes more people per year than any other nation except China.