Iranian authorities executed three men on Sunday after convicting them of carrying out operations on behalf of Israel and the United States during anti government protests in January. The judiciary announced the capital punishments through its Mizan Online website.
The death sentences against Hassan Divband, Hamid Kazemi and Reza Zanganeh were carried out this morning after the Supreme Court upheld them. The judiciary stated they were found guilty of participating in operational activities on behalf of the Israeli Zionist regime, the United States and hostile groups during the protests.
Mizan reported that the three executed men threw Molotov cocktails and grenades. They also used bladed weapons and firearms and set fire to public facilities in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran.
Other defendants connected to the case received prison sentences ranging from five to ten years. The judiciary did not release further details regarding those individuals.
The protest movement began in December due to the high cost of living. It rapidly evolved into widespread anti government demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9.
Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths from the unrest, attributing the violence to terrorist acts orchestrated by the United States and Israel.
Foreign based non governmental organisations have cited higher casualty figures, maintaining that Iranian security forces fired directly 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 United States and Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.
