Three Iranian males had been executed this week on alleged expenses of collaborating with Israel, in keeping with the Islamic Republic judiciary, bringing the whole variety of folks put to loss of life on comparable expenses in the course of the 12-day warfare between Tehran and Tel Aviv to 6.
The hangings had been a part of the “season of traitor-killing,” in keeping with Iran’s ISNA Information Company, as Iranian authorities pushed the executions via lower than 48 hours after the ceasefire between Iran and Israel was introduced on Monday.
Iran’s judiciary mentioned the boys had been convicted of espionage on behalf of Israel’s Mossad intelligence company. Nevertheless, human rights activists declare the boys had been Kurdish day-laborers with no entry to categorised info and had been denied truthful trials.
“This can be a very corrupt regime, and there’s no due course of in Iran,” Azadeh Pourzand, a Center East and human rights professional and a senior fellow and head of the State-Society Relations Unit on the suppose tank Centre for Center East and World Order, instructed ABC Information.
Armed members of Iran’s particular police forces monitor an space throughout an anti-Israeli rally to sentence Israel’s assaults on Iran, after Tehran’s Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran, on June 20, 2025.
Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto by way of Shutterstock
The crackdown follows a warfare with Israel that Iranian authorities say left no less than 627 folks useless and 4,870 injured, together with main infrastructure harm throughout the nation.
Iran’s present regime, nonetheless, continues to be sustaining energy whereas many analysts had speculated the potential of a regime change within the aftermath of the destruction of army infrastructure and the killing of many excessive rating army commanders, together with ambiguities concerning the Iranian supreme chief’s well being and whereabouts.
Given the nation’s monitor report in comparable conditions over almost half a century of rule, many human rights activists and Iranians contained in the nation view this “defeated and wounded” section as, probably, the regime’s most harmful, particularly when it comes to repression.
A number of Iranians who’ve been in opposition to the warfare instructed ABC Information that they’re involved concerning the regime taking its revenge on folks.
“I cried as soon as when the warfare began, and once more when the ceasefire was introduced,” a 37-year-old lady from Rasht, who declined to be named out of worry of security issues, instructed ABC Information. “We worry the Islamic Republic simply as a lot as we worry Israel.”
Armed members of Iran’s particular police forces monitor an space throughout an anti-Israeli rally to sentence Israel’s assaults on Iran, after Tehran’s Friday prayers, in Tehran, Iran, on June 20, 2025.
Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto by way of Shutterstock
Over the course of the 12-day battle, Iranian intelligence and safety forces mentioned they arrested greater than 700 folks accused of getting ties to Israel, in keeping with state affiliate PressTV earlier this week.
Sharing deep issues concerning the security of the human rights activists, journalists and girls, Pourzand mentioned the regime has already “accelerated its execution machine.”
Israeli officers haven’t commented on these arrested for alleged ties to Israel however Mossad Chief David Barnea mentioned this week the Israeli intelligence company would proceed to maintain a “shut eye” on Iran.
“We’ll proceed to maintain an in depth eye on all of the tasks in Iran that we all know very properly. We shall be there(in Iran), as we’ve got been there till now,” Barnea mentioned.
Moreover, on June 25, Iran’s judiciary introduced adjustments to what it known as the “Espionage Regulation for Coping with Residents,” with the Intelligence Ministry saying the formation of a brand new particular committee tasked with monitoring residents’ on-line actions — a marketing campaign state media has labeled an “intelligence jihad,” highlighting it as a part of a broader “nationwide protection” effort.
“There are safety forces out patrolling the streets in full power. We hardly dare exit,” Samira, a 23-year-old scholar activist in Tehran, instructed ABC Information. “It is an especially terrifying time. I believe we’re about to enter a section of additional paralysis and suffocation.”
Pourzand — the human rights advocate — described the post-war environment as a “systematic and inflexible type of repression,” warning that the brand new surveillance measures will additional tighten management over public dissent and private freedoms.
“That is collective punishment in opposition to odd folks … with a view to make some extent and instill worry domestically, and to make factors internationally,” she mentioned.
For critics, the Islamic Republic’s response follows a well-worn sample.
“This regime has mastered how one can personal the narrative over the previous 47 years,” Pourzand mentioned. “They use all types of instruments — misinformation, disinformation.”
The battle has stirred blended feelings amongst Iranians, lots of whom are nonetheless grappling with the trauma of the state’s crackdown that adopted the 2022 nationwide “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that had been ignited after the tragic loss of life of Mahsa Jina Amini in police custody.
The crackdown left tons of killed, 1000’s imprisoned and a number of other executed. The rebellion adopted years of repression and financial hardship made worse by U.S.-led sanctions on high of widespread regime corruption that has solely deepened the general public’s frustration and despair.
Some Iranians initially considered Israel’s early rhetoric about “liberating Iranians” from dictatorship with hope.
A plume of smoke billows after Israeli strikes in Tehran, June 23, 2025
UGC/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
“The Islamic Republic is a totalitarian regime … which has introduced many years of destruction, insecurity, and regional instability,” Parham, 36, instructed ABC Information. “Supporting the Iranian folks of their quest for freedom is just not solely an ethical crucial but additionally a pathway towards peace, prosperity, and stability within the area.”
Nevertheless, not everybody shares the identical sentiment.
“It would be silly to consider Israel’s goal was ever to free us from this regime,” Samira mentioned. “They made it clear their solely purpose was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear capabilities.”
On Thursday, Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public look for the reason that begin of the warfare, rising from weeks of absence to ship a taped televised handle to the nation.
“This is without doubt one of the biggest divine blessings,” Khamenei mentioned, referring to Iran’s armed forces penetrating a number of layers of Israeli protection methods in the course of the current battle. “It reveals the Zionist regime that any aggression in opposition to the Islamic Republic will come at a price — a heavy value — and fortunately, that is precisely what occurred.”
Nevertheless, some now worry that Khamenei’s “heavy value” will finally fall on Iranian residents, because the world’s consideration shifts elsewhere, leaving them on the mercy of a regime decided to show it stays in management.
“What’s already began is sort of horrific,” Pourzand mentioned. “Sadly, I believe what’s coming shall be even worse.”
