Iran executes two members of banned opposition group over attacks on infrastructure

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran executed two members of the outlawed Mujahideen-e-Khalq opposition group for targeting civilian infrastructure with homemade projectiles, the judiciary news outlet Mizan reports.

Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani-Eslamloo, “operational elements” of the MEK, were sentenced to death in a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court, Mizan says.

“The terrorists, in coordination with MEK leaders, had set up a team house in Tehran, where they built launchers and hand-held mortars in line with the group’s goals, fired projectiles heedlessly at citizens, homes, service and administrative facilities, educational and charity centres, and also carried out propaganda and information-gathering activities in support of the MEK,” the report says.

The defendants were indicted with “moharebeh,” an Islamic term meaning waging war against God, destroying public property, and “membership in a terrorist organisation with the aim of disrupting national security.”

The report does not say whether the defendants’ actions took place during last month’s Israel-Iran war, during which Tehran accused opposition groups like MEK of providing support to Israel from within Iran.