Iran executes prisoner over alleged Mossad ties as wartime trials continue

Erbil, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities on Thursday executed another prisoner, citing alleged ties to Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, as well as to an exiled opposition group, a media affiliate of the Iranian judiciary reported. This comes as Tehran has in recent weeks executed more than a dozen detainees, including individuals arrested during nationwide anti-government protests in January.

Mizan Online relayed that Soltanali Shirzadi Fakhr was hanged after he “was convicted on charges of moharebeh [waging war against God] through membership in the terrorist [Mojahedin Khalq Organization] MKO/MEK group.”

The Iranian judiciary’s media outlet further alleged that Shirzadi Fakhr had “in recent years, while residing abroad, been recruited by the Mossad intelligence service to carry out covert, anti-security operations and terrorist activities within the country,” and that he had “confessed to his long-term organizational roles and his direct involvement in recent sabotage plots coordinated by foreign intelligence services.”

Mizan Online added that the sentence “was carried out this morning [Thursday] after being upheld by the Supreme Court and following the completion of all legal and religious procedures.”

The US and Israel in late February launched a preemptive air campaign against Iran, targeting more than 17,000 sites across the country over six weeks of hostilities before the warring sides agreed to a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire on April 8.

Since the onset of the hostilities, Tehran has detained thousands of people for taking photos and videos of strikes and strike sites, accusing them of “aiding the enemy.” The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence and the intelligence ministry have, during the same period, published numerous alleged confessions of detainees accused of recording footage of attacks carried out by Israel and the US.

In mid-April, Iranian authorities signalled a push to fast-track trials for thousands of detainees held during the six-week war, raising concerns among rights watchdogs over a potential wave of executions under wartime conditions.

“In dealing with spies, traitorous elements, and foot soldiers of the aggressor, our posture is fully combative and aligned with wartime requirements,” Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei then said in a post on X, adding that “the judiciary, in its proceedings on cases involving collaborators with the enemy, maintains a wartime posture until further notice.”

Mohseni-Ejei on Tuesday further warned those whom he claimed were “interfering in the economy” and “hoarders and profiteers of essential goods” at a time when the country is under a US naval blockade, calling on them to “await the judiciary’s firm and uncompromising action.” “Exploiting the country’s current conditions against the people’s livelihood is our red line,” he added in a post on X.

Iran frequently announces arrests and executions of individuals accused of links to dissident groups it designates as terrorist organizations, including the MKO/MEK.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported in late December that Iran carried out 2,063 executions during 2025 - the highest number recorded in around three-and-a-half decades.

In a Tuesday report on the human rights situation in Iran, Amnesty International warned that “trials remained systematically unfair” and that “the death penalty was applied arbitrarily and used disproportionately against minorities.”

Source: rudaw.net, Staff, April 23, 2026

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