Iran Executes Six Inmates Allegedly Linked to Attacks for Israel
TEHRAN – Iran carried out the executions of six men on Saturday, state media reported, alleging they were responsible for attacks targeting police, security forces, and sites in the southwestern Khuzestan province. Authorities claim the men acted on behalf of Israel, amid heightened tensions following a brief military exchange between the two countries in June.
The executions mark a continuation of a surge in capital punishment cases in Iran, with rights groups reporting a rate not seen as 1988.
Iranian state television broadcast footage of one of the executed men purportedly detailing the attacks, which Iranian officials say involved bombings and the deaths of security personnel around Khorramshahr.The men were accused of affiliation with the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz, a group that has previously claimed obligation for attacks on oil infrastructure in the region.
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a Kurdish rights group, identified the six as “Arab political prisoners” detained during protests in 2019. Hengaw alleges the men were subjected to torture and coerced into making televised confessions.
Khuzestan province, home to a important Arab population, has long experienced grievances of discrimination from Iran’s central government. The region has also been a focal point of nationwide protests that have swept across Iran in recent years, including those sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022.
Separately on Saturday, Iran also executed an inmate accused of killing a Sunni cleric in 2009 in Kurdistan province.
According to Iran Human Rights and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights, over 1,000 peopel have been executed in Iran in 2023, a figure they acknowledge may be an undercount due to limited official reporting. Independent human rights experts at the United Nations have also voiced criticism regarding Iran’s increasing use of the death penalty.
