​Tehran Executes Two More Opposition Members as Regional War Intensifies

​TEHRAN – The Iranian judiciary announced on Saturday the execution of two men convicted of belonging to the banned People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), marking a sharp escalation in the clerical regime’s use of capital punishment during a time of unprecedented national crisis.

​The men, identified as Abolhassan Montazer, 66, and Vahid Baniamerian, 33, were hanged at dawn in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj. Their deaths bring the total to six MEK-linked executions this week alone, following the hangings of four co-defendants—Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi, and Akbar Daneshvarkar—just days prior.

​Charges of Sabotage and Rebellion

​According to Mizan Online, the judiciary’s official news outlet, the Supreme Court upheld the sentences after the men were found guilty of “rebellion through involvement in multiple terrorist acts” and membership in an operational cell aimed at overthrowing the Islamic Republic.

​Authorities alleged the cell was involved in sabotage operations in Tehran, including the planned use of rocket launchers and the assembly of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Montazer, an architecture graduate and veteran political prisoner who had spent over a decade in prison since the 1980s, was accused of organizing safe houses and financing operations via cryptocurrency.

​A Backdrop of War and Decapitation

​The surge in executions arrives as Iran grapples with the fallout of a massive regional conflict. On February 28, 2026, a joint U.S.-Israeli operation dubbed “Operation Epic Fury” resulted in the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. The strike has since triggered a wider war involving retaliatory strikes and heightened internal instability.

ADVERTISEMENT

​Human rights organizations suggest the judiciary is weaponizing the death penalty to suppress domestic dissent while the military is preoccupied with external threats. In March alone, the state executed several individuals for “acting on behalf of Israel,” including dual Swedish-Iranian national Kouroush Keyvani, whose death sparked intense condemnation from Stockholm and the European Union.

​Rising International Outcry

​The MEK, which has operated in exile since falling out with the revolutionary leadership in the 1980s, remains Tehran’s most targeted opposition group. Rights groups, including the United Nations, have condemned the recent wave of hangings as “cruel” and lacking due process.

​”The execution of Abolhassan Montazer—a man suffering from severe heart and kidney disease—shows that these acts are not about justice, but about erasing a lifetime of resistance,” a spokesperson for an Iranian human rights monitor stated.

​As the war with the United States and Israel continues to redraw the map of the Middle East, the internal crackdown suggests a regime increasingly determined to stifle any organized domestic challenge to its remaining leadership.