Iran has executed four people for allegedly collaborating with an Israeli intelligence service. The death sentences were carried out on Sunday, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.
The men were arrested in June and sentenced on Wednesday for “stealing and damaging private and public property, kidnapping and forcing false confessions” with the help of the intelligence service. Three others were sentenced to ten years in prison for complicity.
Iran and Israel view each other as archenemies and regularly accuse each other of espionage. Iran blames Israel, among others, for the current unrest in the country. Protests against the regime have been held in Iran since September. The protest wave arose after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in mid-September.
That happened after her arrest by the ‘morals police’ for violating the Islamic Republic’s dress code, which requires women to always wear a veil in public. Amini did not wear her headgear properly and, according to her family, was tortured. Protests across the country have since been led by women shouting anti-government slogans or demonstratively taking off their headscarves and burning them. Since then, six protesters have been sentenced to death.
Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri announced on Friday that Iran’s parliament and judiciary are considering bills to make the veil compulsory for women.
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