Iranian state media said that two of its citizens were hanged on Monday on allegations of espionage and collaboration with Israel, amid a rise in executions for national security-related offenses.
According to judiciary news outlet Mizan, Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat were accused of supplying Israel the coordinates of military and security locations, along with pictures and information, during a brief skirmish last summer and the most recent one.
The killings take place at a sensitive time for Iran, which killed thousands of protestors in January to put an end to a period of widespread turmoil before the United States and Israel launched fresh attacks on it on February 28.
According to a source briefed on Israel’s military plan, Israel used information from local informants to target Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps outposts during the ongoing conflict with Iran. According to a July 24 Human Rights Watch study, Iran has executed at least 50 people in the last four months on ambiguous national security allegations, including a number of 18 and 19-year-olds.
Talks with Iran will take place on Monday, according to U.S. President Donald Trump. However, Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, stated on Monday that there are currently no negotiations with the United States.
The 12-day conflict last year started in mid-June when Israel launched an air campaign, which the US eventually joined. A truce mediated by the United States brought it to a conclusion.
After weeks of pressure on Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs as well as how it handled the January protests, the present war started in late February with Israeli and American strikes. With a shaky truce deal in June, the warring parties put a major halt to hostilities.
However, Trump has frequently threatened to escalate the conflict once more in order to buy more time for negotiations, which have not yet resulted in a final agreement.
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