Iran executes man accused of ISIS membership
Iran’s judiciary said on Wednesday it had executed a man convicted of membership in the Islamic State militant group and plotting attacks inside the country, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported.
Iran’s judiciary said on Wednesday it had executed a man convicted of membership in the Islamic State militant group and plotting attacks inside the country, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported.
Mizan identified the man as Mehdi Asgharzadeh, also known by the aliases Abu Khaled and Hesam, and said he had received military training in Syria and Iraq before attempting to enter Iran with a five-member team from Iraq through the western highlands.
The report said Asgharzadeh planned to recruit members and carry out “sabotage and terrorist operations” in Iran, including grenade attacks in crowded religious sites followed by suicide bombings.
According to the judiciary, he was arrested after security forces attacked the group’s hideout before the operation could take place. His alleged accomplices were killed in the raid.
He was convicted of “corruption on earth” through collaboration with Islamic State and actions against public security.
Mizan did not specify when he was arrested or provide details of his trial, but said the sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court and carried out on Wednesday morning.
Human rights groups say Iran has sharply increased the pace of executions in recent months. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, a Washington-based rights group, said earlier in the month that at least 730 people have been executed in Iran since the start of 2025.
Rights monitors have repeatedly accused Iran of conducting trials that fall far short of international standards and extracting confessions under torture, a charge the Islamic Republic denies.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk last week condemned Iran’s execution of hundreds of people “behind closed doors” and called for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty.
