The people allegedly received cryptocurrencies to buy weapons and steal.
Tehran, Iran – Iran has executed four people and sentenced three others to prison on charges of working with Israeli intelligence.
The four people – Hossein Ordoukhanzadeh, Shahin Imani Mahmoudabad, Milad Ashrafi Atbatan, and Manouchehr Shahbandi Bojandi – were hanged on Sunday morning, according to the official court website.
The judges called them “terrorists” and said they were led by Israeli intelligence when they destroyed public and private property, stole, stole, and fabricated crimes. They received their instructions from a Mossad operative in Sweden, it said.
According to the judges, both people had a criminal record, while Ordoukhanzadeh – who is said to be in contact with the Mossad – was arrested in Greece between 2014 and 2017 for trying to smuggle people from Turkey to Greece.
They allegedly received payments in the form of cryptocurrencies and purchased weapons and equipment while receiving training on how to destroy evidence, evade security cameras, and swap cars, which Iranian courts said underscored Mossad’s role.
Their cases were referred to the Supreme Court, which upheld the verdicts handed down on Sunday. The court announced the verdicts on Wednesday.
‘Committing mistakes’
In addition to the four killed, three others – who have not been named – received sentences of five to 10 years for “committing crimes against national security, possessing stolen weapons, and possessing firearms”.
Iran and Israel are arch-enemies and Iran sometimes announces the arrest of people it says are working for foreign countries, including the United States and its European allies.
The executions come as Iran continues more than two months of protests that erupted in mid-September after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested by the country’s morality police for refusing to follow the country’s dress code.
Iran has accused the US, Israel, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Saudi Arabia of instigating the unrest, and 40 foreigners have been arrested over “threats” since September, according to judges.
But Sunday’s killings do not appear to have much to do with the protests as the men were reportedly arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Ministry of Information about six months ago.
