Iran executes 2 opposition members over alleged attacks on civilian sites

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Iran has executed two members of the exiled opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran said Sunday it has executed two members of the exiled opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq after convicting them of carrying out attacks on public and civilian infrastructure.

The judiciary’s official news website, Mizan Online, reported that Behrouz Ehsani Eslamlou and Mehdi Hasani were hanged on Sunday morning after being found guilty of using improvised mortar launchers to target residential areas, educational institutions and government buildings.

The report said Eslamlou had a long history with the group, dating back to the 1980s. He was previously imprisoned, rejoining the group after his release.

Mizan said he was arrested while trying to cross the border into Turkey. Authorities said they found firearms, ammunition, materials for assembling mortars and tools for changing his appearance in his possession.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency added that Eslamlou had been tasked by group leaders based in Albania to return to Iran and organize underground terror cells. His mission, according to the report, included training and directing attacks against both government and civilian targets.

State media reported that the two were involved in acts of vandalism against public property, gathering intelligence, filming their activities and sending the footage for dissemination through the group’s affiliated media networks.

Iranian courts charged the men with several offenses, including waging war against the state, conspiracy, sabotage and membership in a terrorist organization. Prosecutors accused them of plotting to destabilize national security and damage public property.

The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, once a Marxist-Islamist group that opposed Iran’s monarchy, backed the 1979 Islamic Revolution but later broke with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s government. It carried out a series of deadly bombings and assassinations in the 1980s and supported Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war — stances that still provoke widespread resentment within Iran. The group is now largely based in Albania but claims to operate a clandestine network inside Iran.

The last known execution of Mujahedeen-e-Khalq members before Sunday took place in 2009, following their conviction in connection with an attempted bombing in Tehran’s central Enghelab Square.