Court sentences alleged Mossad supporters to death

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Iran's Revolutionary Guards parade in September

Photo: Vahid Salemi/AP

Mass protests in Iran continue - and the mullahs' regime claims the demonstrations are being instigated by Western intelligence agencies, particularly the US and Israel.

Now the country's Supreme Court has sentenced four alleged collaborators of the Israeli secret service to death.

An appeal is not possible.

According to the indictment, the men were accused of collaborating with the Israeli secret service and kidnapping people.

Three other defendants were sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison for allegedly damaging the country's security, participating in kidnappings and possessing weapons.

Iran accuses the secret services of Israel and Western countries of wanting to provoke a civil war.

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the country since the violent death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, despite the fact that the security forces are taking massive action against it.

The so-called vice police arrested Amini in September because she was said to have been dressed inappropriately.

According to the information service HRANA (Human Rights Activists News Agency), run by human rights activists, at least 450 demonstrators have been killed so far, including 63 minors.

In addition, 60 members of the security forces were killed.

An Iranian general recently spoke of around 300 fatalities.

Filmmaker and journalist arrested

HRANA also reported that the Iranian authorities arrested two filmmakers for releasing a protest video.

Actress and director Soheila Golestani, who appears in the video without a headscarf, and director Hamid Pourasari, who also appears in it, said the source.

The video shows Golestani walking towards a staircase, turning around – and looking at the camera without a headscarf.

Nine other women without a headscarf and five men silently stand by her.

All are dressed entirely in black.

It is unclear whether there were any other arrests in connection with the video.

Reporter Nastaran Farache was also arrested on Wednesday, according to the Shargh newspaper.

The exact reason for the arrest is unknown, the paper wrote.

Several »Shargh« journalists had already been arrested in the past few weeks.

The protests have since grown into the biggest challenge for the leadership since 1979.

At that time, the Shah, supported by the West, was deposed in the course of the Islamic revolution and the Islamic Republic was proclaimed.

Hundreds of people are executed in Iran every year.

According to Amnesty International, at least 250 people were executed in the first half of 2022 alone, mainly for drug-related offences.

It is likely that China is the only country in the world where more people are executed every year.

However, there is no reliable data from the country.

fek/Reuters/AFP/dpa