ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran on Thursday executed a man on charges of being a member of  the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), an Iranian opposition group, and espionage for Israel.

Sultan Ali Shirzadifakhr “was hanged for the crime of membership in the terrorist group of the MEK and cooperation with the Zionist regime’s spy service,” state broadcaster IRIB reported on Thursday.

Iran recorded its highest number of executions in more than 15 years in 2025, according to Amnesty International. Many of the cases involved allegations of espionage, national security charges, and alleged ties to Israel or the US. 

The statement claimed that he had confessed to “terrorist operations against Iran,” while adding that his sentence was carried out after completing legal procedures.

Iran has a long history of broadcasting alleged confessions from detainees that are widely believed to be coerced, often obtained through threats, psychological pressure, and, in some cases, physical torture, and commonly described as “forced confessions.”

Especially during periods of heightened tension, such as the January nationwide protests, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that more than 240 forced confessions were broadcast in the aftermath of the crackdown.

Iranian state media described Shirzadifakhr as a longtime member of the opposition group with “extensive cooperation” over the years, saying he was smuggled to Iraq in coordination with the group and had been active in the neighboring country.

In the aforementioned conflict, Iranian authorities carried out a wave of arrests on alleged espionage charges and executed several men convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence services.

On Tuesday, Iran hanged a man after he was accused of spying for Israel’s intelligence Mossad agency and convicted of being a main collaborator in burning a mosque during the country’s nationwide protests.