Iran has executed two members of the outlawed Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) opposition group, according to the country’s judiciary-affiliated news outlet, Mizan. The men, identified as Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani-Eslamloo, were accused of launching attacks on civilian infrastructure using homemade projectiles.
The executions, carried out over the weekend, come amid mounting criticism from international human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, which labelled the trial process as “grossly unfair.”
Mizan reported that the duo had acted as “operational elements” of the MEK, constructing launchers and hand-held mortars under the direction of the group’s leadership. They were accused of indiscriminately targeting citizens, residential areas, public service facilities, educational institutions, and charity centres.
Hassani and Ehsani-Eslamloo were arrested in 2022 and convicted in September 2024 of “moharebeh” – or waging war against God – a charge frequently used in Iran for political dissidents. Their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court, which denied their requests for retrial.
Amnesty International has condemned the executions, stating that the men were denied access to legal counsel during interrogations and were subjected to torture, including beatings and prolonged solitary confinement. The rights group further claimed the convictions were based on forced confessions extracted under duress.
In response to the executions, Maryam Rajavi, leader of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, of which MEK is a major component, praised the two men for their “steadfast resistance” over three years of imprisonment. She described them as having “fulfilled their solemn pledge to God and the people with pride and dignity.”
The MEK, once a prominent leftist-Islamist group in Iran, initially opposed the Shah’s regime but later clashed with the leadership of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The organisation has since operated in exile and was previously designated as a terrorist group by both the U.S. and the EU, a label lifted in 2012.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Iran executed at least 901 people in 2024 — the highest figure in nearly a decade raising renewed concerns over the country’s use of capital punishment, particularly against political prisoners and dissidents.