Iranian authorities carried out the executions of three men on Sunday after they were convicted of conducting operations on behalf of Israel and the United States during anti-government protests in January, according to the country’s judiciary.
The death sentences against Hassan Divband, Hamid Kazemi and Reza Zanganeh were carried out after being upheld by the Supreme Court, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported. The report said the executions took place that morning.
According to Mizan, the three men were found guilty of participating in operational activities on behalf of what the judiciary described as the Israeli Zionist regime, the United States and hostile groups during the protests. The report further stated that the men threw Molotov cocktails and grenades, used bladed weapons and firearms, and set fire to public facilities in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran.
Other defendants in the same case received prison sentences ranging from five to 10 years, Mizan said.
The protest movement was initially sparked in December by the high cost of living and quickly evolved into widespread anti-government demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9. Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths and attributed the violence to what they described as terrorist acts orchestrated by the United States and Israel. Foreign-based non-governmental organizations, however, have cited higher figures and maintain that Iranian security forces fired on protesters.
The number of executions in Iran has risen since the start of the Middle East war, which was triggered in late February by US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.
