Iran executes four alleged spies for Israel as regional tensions flare

Iranian authorities on Friday executed four people convicted of spying for Israel, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported, amid rising regional tension over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Mizan identified the three men convicted as Wafa Hanare, Aram Omari and Rahman Parhazo and the sole woman as Nasim Namazi, describing them as members of a “sabotage group linked to the Zionist entity,” a reference to Israel, who acted on the direct orders of Mossad officials to target Iran’s security. They were hanged in Urmia Prison, in Iran’s northwestern province of West Azerbaijan.

The four were among 10 people arrested between 2021 and 2022 on the suspicion of communicating with Israel. The Islamic Revolutionary Court in Urmia had in March of this year sentenced to death Hanare, Omari, Parhazo and Namazi as well as a fifth person, Mansour Rasouli. The five others were each given 10-year prison sentences.

According to a March report by the Norway-based human rights group Hengaw, the 10 defendants were subjected to torture while in prison.