Four individuals executed in Iran on charges of collaboration with Israel

The Iranian judiciary announced on Friday the execution of four individuals by hanging, convicting them of espionage for Israel, less than two weeks after the execution of a man for similar reasons. 

The Mizan news agency affiliated with the judicial authority, stated, "Four members of a sabotage group linked to the Zionist regime (Israel)... were executed this morning" in the West Azerbaijan province, northwest of Iran. 

It clarified that three men - Vafa Hanareh, Aram Omari and Rahman Parhazo - and a woman named Nasim Namazi were all sentenced to death on charges of "fighting" or waging war against Allah and "corruption on earth" through "collaboration with the Zionist regime." 

Mizan's website added that the group "committed extensive acts against the country's security at the behest of the Mossad." 

On December 16, a religious man was also executed for working for the Mossad in the Sistan-Baluchistan province in southeastern Iran. 

The judiciary did not specify the man's identity at that time, but stated that he was charged with "intelligence and espionage for the hostile Zionist regime." 

In December, the Islamic Republic executed four other individuals accused of collaborating with Israeli intelligence agencies. 

Tehran accuses Israel of carrying out a wave of sabotage attacks and assassinations linked to its nuclear program. 

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, assert that Iran ranks second globally after China in terms of implemented death sentences. 

AFP