Iran has executed two men accused of belonging to the outlawed Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) opposition group and targeting civilian sites with improvised weapons, the judiciary-affiliated news agency Mizan reported on Sunday.
The executions of Behrouz Ehsani-Eslamlou and Mehdi Hassani were carried out in Tehran’s Evin prison, where they had been held since their arrest. Both were convicted in September 2024 by Iman Afshari, head of Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, on a range of national security charges.
According to the Mizan report, the charges included “baghi” (armed rebellion), “moharebeh” (waging war against God), “efsadfel-arz” (corruption on earth), membership in a terrorist organization, gathering classified information, and conspiracy against national security. Their sentences were later upheld by Iran's Supreme Court.
"The terrorists, in coordination with MEK leaders, had set up a team house in Tehran, where they built launchers and hand-held mortars in line with the group's goals," Mizan said. "They fired projectiles heedlessly at citizens, homes, service and administrative facilities, educational and charity centres, and also carried out propaganda and information-gathering activities in support of the MEK."
Semi-official Mehr News Agency reported that Ehsani-Eslamloo was arrested in 2022 following an explosion at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, an incident claimed by the MEK.
The MEK, or People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, was a prominent Marxist-Islamist group that staged bombing campaigns against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi andUS targets in the 1970s. It later fell out with other factions of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has since opposed the Islamic Republic from exile. The group’s leadership is currently based in Paris.
The MEK was designated a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union until 2012, though it continues to be banned in Iran.
