The execution in Iran of two men convicted of carrying out armed operations for an exiled opposition group is a “brutal crime”, the group’s leader said on Sunday, urging countries to act against “bloodthirsty” authorities in Tehran.
“This brutality only intensifies the outrage of the Iranian people and reinforces the determination of Iran’s courageous youth to bring an end to this theocratic tyranny,” Maryam Rajavi, leader of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), said on X.
Rajavi is president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the political wing of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, which Tehran regards as a “terrorist” group.
The men, identified as Mehdi Hasani and Behrouz Ehsani-Eslamloo, were found guilty of manufacturing improvised launchers and mortars and conducting attacks that targeted civilians, homes and public and charitable institutions.
The Iranian judiciary said they aimed to “disrupt social order and endanger the safety of innocent citizens”.
Both men were described as long-time affiliates of the MEK.
According to a statement released by the NCRI, Hasani, 48, was arrested in Zanjan in northwestern Iran in October 2022.
Ehsani-Eslamloo, 70, was arrested in Tehran in December 2022, said the NCRI, describing him as a political prisoner of the 1980s.
“Both were subjected to savage torture in Ward 209 of Evin prison,” the statement said.
The two men were hanged at dawn on Sunday in Ghezelhesar prison outside Tehran, according to the NCRI.
Rajavi praised the two men’s “three years of unwavering resistance under torture, pressure, and threats.”
“I call upon the United Nations, its member states, and all defenders of human rights to take decisive action in response to this brutal crime. Mere words of condemnation are no longer sufficient,” Rajavi said.
“The time has come for concrete and effective measures against a regime built on executions and torture. Continued inaction serves only to embolden this bloodthirsty regime at a moment when it is at its most vulnerable.”
Fourteen other political prisoners have been sentenced to death by Iran for alleged membership in the MEK and “are at imminent risk of execution,” said the NCRI.
Several NGOs say that Iranian authorities have arrested hundreds of people and executed dozens in a wave of repression following the 12-day war with Israel, accusing the Islamic republic of using fear to compensate for weaknesses revealed by the conflict.
Iran enforces capital punishment for a range of serious crimes and ranks as the world’s second-most prolific executioner after China, according to human rights groups including Amnesty International.
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