Iran hangs man convicted of links with US, Israel in pre-war protests

TEHRAN: Iran on Monday executed a man convicted of acting on behalf of Israel and the United States during a wave of anti-government protests earlier this year, the judiciary said.

“Ali Fahim, one of the enemy elements in the terrorist riots of Dey (January)… was hanged after the Supreme Court reviewed the case and confirmed the verdict,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.

His execution is the latest related to the protests that broke out in Iran in late December against rising living costs before morphing into nationwide anti-government demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9.

The execution also takes place against the backdrop of Iran’s war with Israel and the United States, which erupted on February 28 with strikes that killed the Islamic republic’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

Mizan said Fahim was convicted of working against Iran on behalf of “the Zionist regime and the United States” as well as breaking into a classified military site to seize weapons.

Iranian authorities said the rallies began peaceful in December before turning into “foreign-instigated riots” involving killings and vandalism.

Tehran has said more than 3,000 people were killed during the unrest, including members of the security forces and bystanders, and has attributed the violence to “terrorist acts”.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), however, says it has recorded more than 7,000 deaths, the vast majority of them protesters, adding that the toll could be higher.