Iran on Friday executed four persons, including a woman, on accusations of being "saboteurs" with links to Israel's intelligence service, according to Iranian state media affiliated to the judiciary. At least five persons have been executed in the decades-long shadow war between the two bitter enemies.
"Four members of a sabotage team associated with the Zionist regime ... were executed this morning following legal procedures," said the Mizan news agency today, accusing them of "extensive" actions guided by Mossad officers to target Iran's security. The executions took place in West Azerbaijan province.
The four accused have been identified as Vafa Hanareh, Aram Omari, and Rahman Parhazo, along with the woman, named Nasim Namazi. They were the principal convicts in a case that involved ten offenders, although it was not clear if the rest of the accused faced the death penalty.
The IRNA news agency also posted a video showing the men confessing to their alleged cooperation with a Mossad officer in neighbouring Turkey, who used two names, Tony and Arash. It said their mission entailed kidnappings, threatening and setting fire to vehicles and homes of unnamed targets and stealing their mobile phones.
Iranian intelligence put the group under close surveillance for roughly four months, from January 2022 until their arrest later in May that year, when they were "transferred from a neighbouring country" to Iran. "They were training us for bigger assignments," an unidentified young man in a blue-striped shirt said.
Earlier executions
Earlier this month, Iran claimed to have executed a spy from Israel's Mossad agency on charges of involvement in releasing classified information. The spy was allegedly related to foreign intelligence services and he was executed in a prison in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan province in southeast Iran.
At the time of the arrests, Iranian media said the 10, who were in video communication with Mossad officers, "set fire to cars and homes of people affiliated with the security apparatus and received cash for taking photos they sent to Mossad agents".
In January this year, former Iranian-British defense ministry Ali Reza Akbari was hanged for alleged cooperation with Britain's Secret Intelligence Service. In 2020, Iran executed a man convicted of leaking information to the US and Israel about a prominent Islamic Revolutionary Guard general who was later killed by a US drone strike in Iraq.
In November, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Iran was carrying out executions “at an alarming rate," putting to death at least 419 people in the first seven months of the year.
Shadow war between Israel and Iran
Iran and Israel, largely known as bitter foes, have accused each other of spying and waging a shadow war for several years. Israel sees Iran as its greatest threat and has repeatedly threatened to take military action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, even rallying against a proposed US-Iran nuclear deal in 2015.
On the other hand, Iran has denied seeking such weapons and vowed a harsh response to any aggression by Israel. In April last year, Iranian intelligence officers arrested three people they said belonged to a group linked to Mossad, although it is unclear whether the executed spy is among them.
In August, Iran accused Israel of being behind "one of the largest sabotage plots" targeting its defence industry and the production of missiles. The Iranian intelligence ministry said in July that it arrested a network of agents working for Israel and carrying out sabotage in sensitive locations.
On the other hand, Israel earlier claimed to have busted an Iranian spy network that recruited Israeli women through Facebook to photograph sensitive sites. Iran also backs armed groups like Hezbollah and Hamas that have been engaged in bitter conflicts with Israel for several years, including the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
(with inputs from Reuters, AP)
