In the aftermath of a devastating 12-day military conflict that left Iran’s nuclear program in ruins and its military leadership decimated, the Islamic Republic has launched a brutal crackdown against its own people, executing citizens and arresting over 700 individuals it claims were Israeli spies. Human rights groups are calling the regime’s actions a reign of terror designed to deflect blame for its catastrophic intelligence and military failures.
On June 25, 2025, Iranian authorities executed three Kurdish men, Edris Ali, Azad Shojaei, and Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul, in the northwestern city of Urmia. The regime claimed they had smuggled assassination equipment into Iran disguised as alcoholic beverages for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. These executions brought the total number of people put to death on espionage charges during the conflict to six.
The speed of these executions underscores the regime’s desperation to find a scapegoat. Iranian authorities pushed through the death sentences in less than 48 hours after President Trump announced the Israel-Iran ceasefire.
According to human rights activists, rather than being sophisticated international spies, the executed men were Kurdish day laborers with no access to classified information who were denied fair trials. Many of the detainees were held incommunicado, without access to legal counsel. Their real crime appears to be belonging to ethnic minorities that the regime routinely scapegoats during times of crisis.
The executions are just the tip of the iceberg. Iranian state media reports that over 700 people have been arrested on charges of collaborating with Israel since the conflict began on June 13. The regime-backed Fars News Agency described these individuals as “Israeli mercenaries,” although there appears to be no evidence supporting the accusations.
Iranian authorities have disclosed that many of those arrested come from ethnic minority groups, primarily Kurds and Azeris living near Iran’s western and northwestern borders with Iraq and Turkey. These communities have long faced persecution and marginalization under the Islamic Republic, making them convenient targets when the regime needs someone to blame.
Iran has a documented history of targeting its Jewish minority with espionage accusations, including the arrest of 13 Iranian Jews in 1999 on similar charges. The current crackdown appears to follow this familiar pattern of using national security as a pretext to persecute vulnerable communities.
When Iranian state television showcased weapons allegedly seized from arrested “Israeli agents,” experts found no evidence of Israeli-made equipment. Instead, the weapons shown were all widely available in Iran or of Iranian manufacture, including Iranian-made missiles and drones. Some images appeared to be entirely staged, suggesting the regime is manufacturing evidence to support its narrative.
The confessions broadcast on state television follow Iran’s familiar playbook of coerced statements. Videos show men in prison jumpsuits admitting to being recruited as Israeli spies, but analysts note these confessions bear all the hallmarks of torture-induced testimony that the regime has used for decades against political prisoners.
This brutal crackdown reveals far more about Iran’s internal weakness than any genuine security threat. The Islamic Republic suffered a humiliating defeat, with Israeli strikes penetrating deep into Iran’s most protected facilities and killing key military commanders and nuclear scientists. Iranian authorities reported 610 people killed and 4,746 injured in their country, while Israel lost just 28 people. More damaging still, Israel’s precision strikes demonstrated the depth of its intelligence penetration into Iranian territory, exposing the regime’s vulnerability to its enemies.
Following the destruction of Iran’s military infrastructure and growing speculation about Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s health and whereabouts during the conflict, many analysts had anticipated the possibility of regime change. Instead of acknowledging these failures, Iran’s leaders have turned their violence inward. Using legitimate concerns about Israeli intelligence activity as a pretext, the regime has launched a sweeping campaign of internal repression aimed at silencing dissent and deflecting blame.
Human rights organizations have condemned the escalating wave of executions and mass arrests. Amnesty International warned that the regime is “weaponizing the death penalty to assert control and instill fear among the people of Iran.” The group noted that Iran was already the world’s second-most prolific executioner after China, with over 900 executions in 2024 alone.
The Islamic Republic’s response to its military humiliation reveals the true character of the regime: rather than accept responsibility for its failures, Iran’s leadership is choosing to murder its own citizens to maintain power.
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