Iran has, over the last 12 days, arrested more than 700 people accused of ties with Israel, state-linked media reported Wednesday in the wake of a ceasefire between the two countries that cut short almost two weeks of war.
“Since the beginning of Israel’s attack on Iran, the Zionist regime’s spy network has been highly active in the country,” said Fars News, reporting on the arrests.
Additionally, the Islamic Republic on Wednesday morning executed three people it accused of collaborating with Israel, its judiciary’s Mizan news agency announced.
The agency named those executed as Idris Ali, Azad Shojai and Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul, saying they smuggled equipment used in the assassination of one unnamed person.
The men were “arrested and tried for… cooperation favoring the Zionist regime,” Mizan said, referring to Israel. “The sentence was carried out this morning… and they were hanged.”
The executions took place in Urmia, a northwestern city near the border with Turkey, Iran’s judiciary said, sharing photos of the three men in blue prison uniforms.
Illustrative: Portraits are exhibited behind a noose as a placard reads: ‘Executions pro day,’ in front of the Brandenburg Gate during a demonstration by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Berlin, Germany on February 10, 2024. (Stefanie Loos/AFP)
Tehran regularly announces the arrest and execution of agents suspected of working for foreign intelligence services, including Israel, a country it regularly vows to destroy.
Iran is the world’s second-most prolific executioner after China, according to human rights groups, including Amnesty International.
It also carried out executions of men accused of being Mossad agents on both Sunday and Monday.
After Israel attacked Iran on June 13 in order to thwart what it deemed the existential threats of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Tehran vowed swift trials for people arrested on suspicion of collaboration.
Over the course of the 12-day war, which appeared to end on Tuesday with a US-brokered ceasefire, Israel launched airstrikes targeting Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile program. The US also struck key Iranian nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordo, and Isfahan.
Iran retaliated to Israel’s attacks by launching over 550 ballistic missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel. Iran’s missile attacks killed 28 people and wounded thousands in Israel, according to health officials. Missiles hit apartment buildings, a university, and a hospital, causing heavy damage. Iran also fired at a US base in Qatar after the American strikes.
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