Iran executed a man on Sunday who was charged with acting as an agent for Israel and the United States. The individual was alleged to have carried a chainsaw during anti-government protests in January. This execution highlights the Iranian government’s ongoing crackdown on dissent and its efforts to link protest activities to foreign influence.
The judiciary said Majid Adineh had been convicted of “operational action in favour of hostile groups” in nationwide rallies that broke out late last year. Adineh was accused of “deliberate arson, gathering and collusion with the intention of committing crimes against the country’s internal security”, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said in a report Sunday. An appeal by Adineh was unsuccessful and the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, with his execution carried out Sunday morning, Mizan said.
The protest movement was initially sparked in late December by grievances over high living costs but rapidly evolved into widespread anti-government demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9. Iranian authorities executed at least 1,639 people last year, a record high since 1989, according to Iran Human Rights, an NGO based in Norway, and Together Against the Death Penalty , which is headquartered in Paris.
Iran conducts the second most executions of any country, after China, according to Amnesty International.
