Iran executes three prisoners accused of spying for Israel
IRNA said Iran's judiciary claimed the men had been accused of bringing 'assassination equipment' into the country.
Iran has carried out several hangings during its war with Israel, sparking fears from activists that it could conduct a wave of executions after the conflict ended.
Iran identified the three men executed as Azad Shojaei, Edris Aali and Iraqi national Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul.
Amnesty International had previously raised concerns that the men could be executed.
Wednesday's executions bring the total number of hangings for espionage around the war up to six since June 16.
Activists fear more people will be executed, particularly after Iran's theocracy issued a deadline for people to turn themselves in over spying.
People in Iran, meanwhile, began trying to return to their normal lives as a shaky ceasefire with Israel, negotiated by US President Donald Trump, appeared to be holding.
State media described heavy traffic around the Caspian Sea area and other rural areas outside of the capital, Tehran, as people began returning to the city.
Tehran experienced intense Israeli airstrikes throughout the war, including those that targeted Iran's top military leadership and other sites associated with its ruling theocracy.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Western Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Israel approves settlement project that could divide West Bank
Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades – but was frozen due to US pressure during previous administrations. On Wednesday, the project received final approval from the Planning and Building Committee after the last petitions against it were rejected on August 6. If the process moves quickly, infrastructure work could begin in the next few months and construction of homes could start in around a year. View of an area near Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP) The plan includes around 3,500 apartments to expand the settlement of Maale Adumim, far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said during a press conference at the site last Thursday. Mr Smotrich cast the approval as a riposte to western countries that announced their plans to recognise a Palestinian state in recent weeks. 'This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no-one to recognise,' Mr Smotrich told reporters. 'Anyone in the world who tries today to recognise a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground.' The location of E1 is significant because it is one of the last geographical links between Ramallah, in the northern West Bank, and Bethlehem in the southern West Bank. The two cities are 14 miles apart by air, but Palestinians travelling between them must take a wide detour and pass through multiple Israeli checkpoints, adding hours to the journey. The hope for final status negotiations for a Palestinian state was to have the region eventually serve as a direct link between the cities. Peace Now, an organisation that tracks settlement expansion in the West Bank, called the E1 project 'deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution' which is 'guaranteeing many more years of bloodshed'. Israel's plans to expand settlements are part of an increasingly difficult reality for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as the world's attention focuses on the war in Gaza. There have been marked increases in attacks by settlers on Palestinians, evictions from Palestinian towns, and checkpoints that choke freedom of movement, as well as several Palestinian attacks on Israelis. More than 700,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for a future state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace. Israel's government is dominated by religious and ultra-nationalist politicians with close ties to the settlement movement. Mr Smotrich, previously a firebrand settler leader and now finance minister, has been granted Cabinet-level authority over settlement policies and vowed to double the settler population in the West Bank. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and claims it as part of its capital, which is not internationally recognised. It says the West Bank is disputed territory whose fate should be determined through negotiations. Israel withdrew from 21 settlements Gaza in 2005.
The National
32 minutes ago
- The National
Paul Weller sues ex-accountants after being dropped over Gaza statements
The former frontman of The Jam has filed a discrimination claim against Harris and Trotter after the firm ended their professional relationship with him after more than 30 years. MUSICIAN Paul Weller is suing his former accountants after they stopped working with the singer following public statements alleging Israel was committing genocide in Gaza , according to a legal letter. In a pre-action letter seen by the PA news agency, lawyers for Weller say the singer-songwriter was told in March that the accountants and tax advisers would no longer work with the 67-year-old or his companies. READ MORE: Labour refuse to release files on secret meeting with Gideon Sa'ar According to the letter, a WhatsApp message from a partner at the firm included: 'It's well known what your political views are in relation to Israel, the Palestinians and Gaza, but we as a firm are offended at the assertions that Israel is committing any type of genocide. 'Everyone is entitled to their own views, but you are alleging such anti-Israel views that we as a firm with Jewish roots and many Jewish partners are not prepared to work with someone who holds these views.' Lawyers for Weller claim that by ending their services, the firm unlawfully discriminated against the singer's protected philosophical beliefs including that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that Palestine should be recognised as a nation state. Weller said: 'I've always spoken out against injustice, whether it's apartheid, ethnic cleansing, or genocide. What's happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe. 'I believe they have the right to self-determination, dignity, and protection under international law, and I believe Israel is committing genocide against them. That must be called out. 'Silencing those who speak this truth is not just censorship – it's complicity. READ MORE: Home Office to return Iraqi migrants to 'deter small boats' 'I'm taking legal action not just for myself, but to help ensure that others are not similarly punished for expressing their beliefs about the rights of the Palestinian people.' Weller will donate any damages he receives to humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza, the legal letter also states. Cormac McDonough, a lawyer at Hodge Jones and Allen, representing Weller, said that his case 'reflects a wider pattern of attempts to silence artists and public figures who speak out in support of Palestinian rights'. McDonough added: 'Within the music industry especially, we are seeing increasing efforts to marginalise those who express solidarity with the people of Gaza.'
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
Netanyahu brands Australia's Albanese ‘weak' over Palestinian state recognition
Mr Netanyahu's extraordinary public rebuke came after an August 11 announcement by Mr Albanese that his government's recognition of a Palestinian state will be formalised at the United Nations General Assembly in September. The announcement was followed by tit-for-tat cancellations of Australian and Israeli visas. 'History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews,' Mr Netanyahu posted on social media. Mr Albanese responded pointedly on Wednesday: 'I treat leaders of other countries with respect. I engage with them in a diplomatic way.' 'I don't take these things personally,' Mr Albanese added. 'Increasingly there is global concern and global concern because people want to see an end to the cycle of violence that we have seen for far too long. That is what Australians want to see as well.' Australian home affairs minister Tony Burke further inflamed Israel's anger by cancelling the visa of far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, a member of Mr Netanyahu's coalition, who planned an Australian speaking tour. Mr Rothman is a member of the Religious Zionism party, which supports continuation of the war, the mass relocation of Palestinians through what it describes as voluntary migration and the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza. Mr Burke on Wednesday accused Mr Netanyahu of 'lashing out' against Australia as he had done against Britain, Canada, France, Ireland, Norway and Spain over recognition of a Palestinian state. Mr Burke denied Mr Albanese was weak. 'Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,' Mr Burke told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar retaliated on Monday for Mr Rothman's treatment by revoking visas of Australian representatives to the Palestinian Authority. Mr Saar also told the Israeli Embassy in Australia to 'carefully examine' any official visa applications from Australia to Israel. Australian foreign minister Penny Wong responded by accusing the Netanyahu government of isolating Israel. Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry – the nation's peak advocacy group, said the Jewish community was 'profoundly disturbed and concerned by the rapidly deteriorating state of relations' between the two countries. Australian Jews did not feel 'abandoned' by the Albanese government, rejecting Mr Netanyahu's accusation, Mr Ryvchin said. 'When allies speak, they should speak frankly, robustly, but also in a dignified way, and I think firing off tweets which contain elements of abuse to them,' Mr Ryvchin said. 'I don't think that's the way to operate.' Australia is an increasingly multicultural country where more than half the population was born overseas or has at least one foreign parent. There is widespread community concern over the Israel-Hamas war, indicated by tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marching over the Sydney Harbour Bridge earlier this month. Antisemitism has reached unprecedented levels across Australia, which the government acknowledged last year by appointing the nation's first special envoy to combat antisemitism, Sydney lawyer Jillian Segal. Australia's conservative opposition party has pledged to reverse Australia's recognition of Palestine if it wins the next election, which is due in 2028.
