Four men convicted of planning a sabotage on a facility belonging to Iran’s defence ministry in 2022 have been put to death, state media reported. The men were also alleged to have collaborated with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, which purportedly provided them with training in an African nation before they entered Iran.

Telegram Correspondent

On Monday, Iran executed four men after they were convicted of plotting acts for sabotage and purportedly having connections with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, as reported by state media.

According to the official IRNA news agency, four men have been convicted for planning to attack a factory belonging to Iran’s defence ministry in 2022. The factory is involved in the production of missiles and defence equipment and is located in the central city of Isfahan. Mossad allegedly engineered the operation, and the Israeli agency trained the four men in an African country before they entered Iran.

The Islamic Republic’s Judiciary reported that the execution of Pejman Fatehi, Mohsen Mazloum, Mohammad (Hazhir) Faramarzi, and Wafa Azarbar took place on Monday morning in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, which is located west of Tehran. These individuals have been identified as Iranian nationals.

The country’s highest court, the Supreme Court, upheld the September verdicts of a lower court, which resulted in the carrying out of the death sentences. The report did not provide specific information regarding the method of execution. However, it is commonly known that hanging is frequently used for executions in Iran.

News website iranintl.com reported that the families of the men had been summoned earlier to Evin Prison for a meeting, indicating that their execution was imminent. Subsequently, they were moved to Ghezel Hesar to be executed by hanging.

In 2022, Iran reported that its intelligence operatives had foiled a plot by a group linked to Mossad, which was allegedly planning terrorist actions in Iran. All members of the group were captured, and a large number of weapons and explosives were confiscated.

The Intelligence Ministry of Iran reported that they had arrested the four men after they “illegally entered Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan and intended to bomb a Defence Ministry facility used for producing equipment.”

The Judiciary’s website announced on Monday that the men were hired by Israel’s Mossad, with the assistance of the Kurdish group Komala, to carry out a bombing at the Defence Ministry facility in Najafabad, Isfahan Province, on July 23, 2022.

“In order to get prepared for the operation, they were sent to African countries several times and were trained in their military bases in the presence of Mossad officers.

“Even the Mossad chief David Barnea participated in one of the training sessions and delivered a speech to boost their morale,”  claimed the website.

The Iran Human Rights NGO, headquartered in Norway, strongly condemned the execution of the four men and urged the international community to speak out against the recent surge of executions in Iran.

Additionally, the NGO appealed to Nada Al-Nashif, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, to reconsider her scheduled visit to Iran as a form of protest against the executions.

Mahmoud Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of Iran Human Rights NGO, said, “The execution of these four prisoners was based on confessions obtained under torture and without a fair trial, and are considered extrajudicial killings for which Khamenei and the corrupt judiciary of the Islamic Republic must be held accountable.”

In October and December 2022, state television broadcast videos that supposedly showed four men admitting to plotting a bomb attack near the city of Esfahan, reportedly with guidance from Israeli intelligence.

Non-governmental organisations allege that political and security detainees in Iran are frequently denied impartial and just trials, often without access to their own legal representation.

Iran has consistently provided reports on the arrests, subsequent trials, and executions of its citizens who have engaged in espionage activities on behalf of Mossad and various Western intelligence agencies.

Last December, according to Iran media reports, the country sentenced several people to prison and executed four people, three men and one woman, after accusing them of having connections with Israel’s Mossad security agency. Additionally, another man was executed earlier in December for allegedly providing Mossad with classified information.

In 2020, Iran executed a man who was convicted of sharing information with the US and Israel about Qassim Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite Quds force in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in January 2020.

Tensions between Israel and Iran keep intensifying as both countries continue to exchange accusations of espionage and involvement in covert operations. Israel has been vocal in its determination to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, stating that it considers Iran as its primary threat. As a response, Iran has strongly denied any pursuit of nuclear weapons and has vowed to respond forcefully to any aggressive acts towards its sovereignty.