Iran executes two members of opposition group for attacking infrastructure

Iran executed two members of the banned Mujahideen-e-Khalq group for attacking civilian infrastructure with homemade projectiles, the judiciary news outlet Mizan said on Sunday, amid criticism from Amnesty International over a "grossly unfair" trial.

Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani-Eslamloo, identified as "operational elements" of the MEK, were sentenced to death in September 2024 - a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court, which denied their request for a retrial, Mizan said.

"The terrorists, in coordination with MEK leaders, had ... built launchers and hand-held mortars in line with the group's goals, fired projectiles heedlessly at citizens, homes, service and administrative facilities, educational and charity centres," the report said.

Maryam Rajavi, who leads the National Council of Resistance of Iran of which the MEK is the main force, paid tribute to the pair.

"Honour to these steadfast Mojahedin who, after three years of unwavering resistance under torture, pressure, and threats, fulfilled their solemn pledge to God and the people with pride and dignity."

The defendants were indicted with "moharebeh" - an Islamic term meaning waging war against God - destroying public property and "membership in a terrorist organisation with the aim of disrupting national security."

Amnesty International said that Ehsani-Eslamloo and Hassani were arrested in 2022 and maintained their innocence during a trial which the rights group called "grossly unfair and marred by allegations of torture and forced confessions.”

"According to informed sources, agents interrogated them without lawyers present and subjected them to torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings and prolonged solitary confinement, to extract self-incriminating statements," it said in January.

According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the number of people executed in Iran rose to at least 901 in 2024, the highest number since 2015.

The MEK, known in English as People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, was a powerful leftist-Islamist group that staged bombing campaigns against the shah's government and U.S. targets in the 1970s but ultimately fell out with the other factions of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Since then, the MEK has opposed the Islamic Republic and its leadership in exile has been Paris-based. The group was listed as a terrorist organisation by the U.S. and the European Union until 2012.