Iran executed three men on Sunday after they were convicted of carrying out operations for Israel and the United States and taking part in armed unrest during the anti-government protests in January, state media reported, according to The Hindu, citing Reuters.
The judiciary named the men as Hassan Dioband, Hamid Kazemi and Reza Zanganeh. (Iran International spells the first name Divband.) It accused them of using firearms, grenades and Molotov cocktails, setting fire to public buildings and damaging an electricity substation in Karaj, west of Tehran, which caused power cuts in some areas.
The case
According to the judiciary, Dioband was arrested on January 11 after investigators identified him as a suspect in attacks on public property and incitement to violence; Iran International reported that the arrest followed a report by the Intelligence Ministry's office in Alborz province. Ten others accused of acting under his direction were arrested later.
The Karaj Revolutionary Court sentenced the three to death and to the confiscation of their assets, and gave eight other defendants prison terms of five to 10 years, Iran International reported. The executions were carried out after Iran's Supreme Court upheld the sentences.
The charges come from the judiciary and state media, and none of the accusations has been independently verified.
Background
The executions are the latest in a series Iran has carried out in recent months over the January protests, including of people accused of links to Israel and the US, The Hindu reported.
An Iran International investigation in October found that Iran had executed nearly two people a week in political and security cases since the protests, while another 190 people faced death sentences.