Iran has arrested over 700 people accused of collaborating with Israel and executed three men on Wednesday, following nearly two weeks of fighting between the two countries that ended in a ceasefire brokered by the US, reports the Times of Israel.
State-linked Fars News stated that “… since the beginning of Israel’s attack on Iran, the Zionist regime’s spy network has been highly active in the country,” justifying the mass arrests.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency named the executed men as Idris Ali, Azad Shojai, and Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul, stating they had smuggled equipment to help assassinate a target inside Iran.
The three were hanged in Urmia, a northwestern city near the border with Turkey. Tehran regularly executes people convicted of spying for foreign intelligence agencies, especially Israel, which it has vowed to destroy.
According to Amnesty International, Iran is the world’s second-most prolific user of capital punishment after China.
Executions have accelerated in recent days, with alleged Mossad agents also hanged on Sunday and Monday.
The war between Iran and Israel broke out on June 13, when Israel struck Iranian military and nuclear sites. Tehran responded with over 550 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones that targeted Israel’s military bases, apartment blocks, a hospital, and a university.
The US also carried out strikes on Iran’s top nuclear sites at Natanz, Fordo, and Isfahan. Iran fired missiles at a US base in Qatar as well.
Health officials in Israel reported that Iran’s missiles killed 28 people and injured thousands.
With the US-brokered ceasefire announced Tuesday, the 12-day war appeared to draw to a close — but fears remain that clandestine attacks and mass crackdowns may persist in the tense post-conflict environment.