Two men accused of working with Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, have been executed in Iran but the story is far from straightforward.
According to Iran’s judiciary news outlet, Mizan, the men Mohammad Masoum Shahi and Hamed Validi were part of a network allegedly linked to Mossad.
Officials said they had received training abroad, including in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, and were involved in planning attacks in the country.
After being convicted on charges such as cooperating with hostile groups and “enmity against God,” their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court and carried out.
But the opposition strongly disputes that version of events.
Maryam Rajavi, who leads the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said the men were not spies at all.
In her view, they were punished simply for their political beliefs. She described their executions as part of a broader crackdown, saying their “only crime” was supporting freedom and opposing the current system.
These executions are not isolated.
In recent weeks, several people reportedly linked to the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) have faced similar sentences.
Many others, according to Rajavi, are still on death row.
The PMOI also known as the Mujahideen-e-Khalq is banned داخل Iran, and its actual support within the country is hard to measure.
Still, it remains one of the more organised opposition groups operating from abroad, alongside monarchist factions that back Reza Pahlavi.
For now, the two sides are telling completely different stories: the government framing the executions as a matter of national security, and the opposition calling it political repression.
