3 Men and Woman Executed for Espionage Charges

According to the Judiciary’s Mizan news agency, three men and a woman were executed in Urmia Central Prison on 29 December. Their identities have been reported as Vafa Hanareh, Aram Omari Bardiani, Rahman Parhazu and Nasim Namazi. They were sentenced to death for charges of “moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) through collaborating with the Zionist regime to disrupt national security.”

Mizan reported their executions to have taken place on 29 December. However, according to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Vafa, Aram, Rahman and Nasim were executed the previous night (28 December).

A fifth prisoner named Mansour Rasouli who was transferred to pre-execution solitary confinement with the other four was returned to his cell after his hanging was delayed for unknown reasons.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Mansour Rasouli has been behind bars since April 2022. Vafa, Aram, Rahman and Nasim were arrested 18 months ago and sentenced to death.”

According to Mizan, of the ten defendants in the case, four received death penalties and the other six were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

The hasty execution of the four prisoners shortly after the killing of an IRGC commander in Syria, increases suspicions of their retaliatory nature.