Iran’s Supreme Court said on Sunday, December 04, 2022 that four persons had been hanged for spying for Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad. Three others have received lengthy prison sentences.
According to the verdict, the four men “were condemned to death for the crime of intelligence cooperation with the Zionist authority and kidnapping” and executed this morning, according to Mehr news agency.
The four men were identified as Hossein Ordoukhanzadeh, Shahin Imani Mahmoudabad, Milad Ashrafi Atbatan, and Manouchehr Shahbandi Bojandi by the court and labelled as “thugs,” claiming they were part of a network engaged in “stealing and destroying private and public property, kidnapping,” and “obtaining fake confessions.”
According to the court, Mossad paid them in bitcoin and assisted them in obtaining weapons and gear. Furthermore, a Swedish-based Israeli spy is believed to have given them instructions.
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Three further offenders, who had also participated in kidnappings and had firearms in their possession, had their sentences ranged from five to ten years in jail for compromising national security.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s top-tier military organisation, detained all seven of the individuals in June. They are all alleged to have prior criminal histories.
For many years, Iran and Israel have been bitter adversaries in the region, with each nation frequently charging the other with espionage. Israel’s internal intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, has accused four women and one male of allegedly attempting to photograph key Israeli locations for Iran earlier this year.
The two nations have disagreed on a variety of issues. Israel suspects Tehran of trying to get nuclear weapons, a claim Iran has categorically refuted, insisting that its nuclear programme is purely meant for peaceful purposes.
Last month, amid violent anti-government rallies that have swept the country since mid-September, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian accused Western nations and Israel of trying to spark a civil war in the country.
