(FiveNation.com)- On Wednesday, Iran’s judiciary sentenced four people to death for allegedly cooperating with Israeli intelligence services and taking part in unspecified kidnappings, the state-run Mehr news agency reported.
Mehr reported that the four individuals, “with guidance from the Zionist intelligence service,” stole private and public property and destroyed it, kidnapped “people,” and obtained fake confessions.
Tehran has long accused Israeli intelligence of running operations on Iranian soil, like participating in a series of sabotage attacks on nuclear facilities and scientists.
However, the Israeli government has rarely claimed credit for these actions.
In recent months, the Iranian regime has also accused Israeli and Western intelligence services of being behind the current protests roiling the country, claiming Israel and the West are using the protests to plot a civil war.
According to Mehr, the four people were arrested by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Ministry of Intelligence.
Three other people were sentenced to between five and 10 years for allegedly committing crimes including acting against national security, aiding in a kidnapping, and possessing illegal weapons.
On Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry said the regime would reject a newly-appointed independent United Nations investigation into the country’s repression of anti-government protests.
Last week, the UN Rights Council voted to appoint a probe into the regime’s deadly crackdown on the ongoing protests that erupted in September after the in-custody death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who was allegedly beaten by morality police for refusing to wear a hijab.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Monday that Iran would not cooperate with what he called a “political committee.”
As of Monday, 451 protesters, including 64 children, have been killed during clashes with the police.
