Iran says it executed 9 Islamic State group operatives over 2018 clash with troops

Iran says it executed nine militants of the Islamic State group detained after a 2018 clash with troops.

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency announces the executions, saying that the death sentences had been upheld by the country’s top court.

It describes the militants as being detained after a clash in the country’s western region with Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, in which three troops and several ISIS fighters were killed. Authorities say they seized a cache of combat weapons, including a machine gun and 50 grenades, after surrounding the militants’ hideout.

Iran carries out executions by hanging. In the past eight months, it has executed an average of one person every six hours, according to Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of advocacy group Iran Human Rights.

He says the executions were issued without fair trials and that there have been no updates about seven others reportedly detained in the 2018 attack.