Iran Executes Four People on Charge of Spying for Israel

Iran executed four individuals on charges of espionage for Israel, a move that has sparked international concern and condemnation. The executions occurred on Friday, January 26, involving four people, including a woman, whom Iran accused of being "saboteurs" with links to Israel's Mossad intelligence service, as reported by the Mizan news agency affiliated with the judiciary.

In January 2024, Iran sentenced a total of five people to death in a decades-long shadow war, during which Iran accused Israel of attacks on its nuclear efforts, charges that Israel has neither confirmed nor denied. The Mizan news agency stated, "Four members of a sabotage team associated with the Zionist regime ... were executed this morning following legal procedures," accusing them of engaging in "extensive" actions guided by Mossad officers targeting Iran's security.

BREAKING: Iran executes four people on charge of spying for Israel

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The executions in West Azerbaijan province on Friday followed Iran's mid-December execution of a fifth accused Mossad agent in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan. The semi-official Tasnim news agency identified the four executed on Friday as Vafa Hanareh, Aram Omari, Rahman Parhazo, and the woman, named Nasim Namazi.

They were the principal convicts in a case involving 10 offenders, according to Tasnim, although it was not immediately clear if the rest would also face execution. The official IRNA news agency shared a nearly eight-minute video clip showing the men confessing to their alleged cooperation with a Mossad officer in neighbouring Turkey, who used two names, Tony and Arash.