In the aftermath of a devastating 12-day military conflict that left Iran’s nuclear program in ruins and its military leadership decimated, the Islamic Republic has launched a brutal crackdown against its own people, executing citizens and arresting over 700 individuals it claims were Israeli spies. Human rights groups are calling the regime’s actions a reign of terror designed to deflect blame for its catastrophic intelligence and military failures.
On June 25, 2025, Iranian authorities executed three Kurdish men, Edris Ali, Azad Shojaei, and Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul, in the northwestern city of Urmia. The regime claimed they had smuggled assassination equipment into Iran disguised as alcoholic beverages for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. These executions brought the total number of people put to death on espionage charges during the conflict to six.
The speed of these executions underscores the regime’s desperation to find a scapegoat. Iranian authorities pushed through the death sentences in less than 48 hours after President Trump announced the Israel-Iran ceasefire.
According to human rights activists, rather than being sophisticated international spies, the executed men were Kurdish day laborers with no access to classified information who were denied fair trials. Many of the detainees were held incommunicado, without