 "People walk on a street with a banner of Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei with late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the background, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran. Reuters")
Iranian authorities on Tuesday hanged two people accused of being involved in activities with the opposition group, Mujahideen-e Khalq Organisation (MKO).
According to state media, ISNA news, the two people participated in “numerous” operations in Tehran. This is the latest in the string of executions being carried out by the country as its war with the US and Israel continues to rage.
Iran has been putting people, whom it considers “spies”, to the gallows for their alleged role in transferring information to Israel.
Earlier this month, Iranian authorities executed a man accused of spying for Israel in the ongoing West Asia conflict. The man identified as Kurosh Keyvani was found guilty of providing sensitive and classified information to Israel’s spy agency Mossad. The information included pictures of the country’s sensitive location as well.
What’s the Mujahideen-e Khalq Organisation?
The Mujahideen, a once-powerful leftist movement, carried out a series of bombings against the shah’s government and US targets in the 1970s, but later became estranged from other opposition groups.
The organisation is widely known by its Persian name, the Mujahideen-e Khalq Organisation, or by the acronyms MEK or MKO.
Many Iranians, including staunch critics of the Islamic Republic, remain deeply critical of the group for siding with Iraq during the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq war, a decision that continues to shape its reputation.
In 2002, the group drew international attention when it became the first to publicly disclose the existence of Iran’s covert uranium enrichment programme.
No room for dissent
Earlier, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned that the internal traitors of the country would not be spared, and they would face a blow stronger than the January 8 crackdown.
With the help of state media, officials and commentators are building an aggressive rhetoric. They have threatened the protestors and traitors to shoot them. “Once the dust from all this sedition settles, we will grab you by the collar, one by one. We will make your mothers mourn for you,” one of the state TV anchors said.
Quick Reads
View AllIran’s police chief, Ahmed-Reda-Razan , has also warned that anyone taking to the streets would be treated in the same manner as the ‘country’s enemies’.