Iran executes four people accused of spying for Mossad

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Authorities in Iran have executed four people accused of working for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency identified the executed prisoners as Hossein Ordoukhanzadeh, Shahin Imani Mahmoudabadi, Milad Ashrafi and Manouchehr Shahbandi.

The executions were carried out on Sunday after Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard announced the arrests of a network of individuals linked to the Israeli intelligence agency.

The report said three others also received sentences of five to 10 years in prison, but they were not identified.

They were arrested and sentenced to death in June on charges of “intelligence cooperation with Israel”.

The report said the members had criminal records and tried to disrupt the country’s security.

The IRNA said members of the Mossad network stole and destroyed private and public property, and kidnapped individuals and interrogated them.

It said the alleged spies had weapons and received wages from Mossad in the form of cryptocurrency.

Authorities in Iran, however, have not provided any evidence of these crimes.

Arch-rivals Iran and Israel have often accused each other of spying.

Detentions of people accused of spying for foreign countries including the US and Israel are common in Iran.

Figures released by human rights group Amnesty International reveal Iran executed at least 314 people in 2021 – more than half the total state executions recorded across the Middle East last year.

In July, Iran said it had arrested some members of a group linked to Mossad who had crossed into the country from its western border.

In January, Israel said it broke up an Iranian spy ring that recruited Israeli women via social media to photograph sensitive sites, gather intelligence and encourage their sons to join Israeli military intelligence.

Additional reporting by agencies