Iran’s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentences that a court handed down to four people convicted of cooperating with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and participating in kidnappings, the semiofficial Mehr news agency reported. Three others were sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for allegedly committing crimes such as acting against national security, aiding in kidnapping, and possessing illegal weapons, Mehr reported.
Tehran attributes multiple covert operations in Iran to the Israeli intelligence service, particularly in connection to the country’s nuclear program. Iranian authorities have recently accused Israeli and Western intelligence agencies of fomenting the anti-government protests that have spread across the country following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a woman who was arrested for incorrectly wearing her hijab.
Mehr said that the four defendants were “sentenced to death for the crime of cooperating with the intelligence services of the Zionist regime and for kidnapping.” It added that “with guidance from the Zionist intelligence service, this network of thugs was stealing and destroying private and public property, kidnapping people, and obtaining fake confessions.”