Iran’s judiciary warns against ‘infiltrators’, announces new executions

Many cases related to security offenses are prosecuted using a law announced after last year’s 12-day war with Israel.A mural in Tehran depicting Supreme Leaders Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini [File: Abedin Taherkenareah/EPA]Published On 22 Jul 2026Tehran, Iran – Iran’s judiciary has announced several executions this week linked to unrest over recent months, as part of a campaign against those accused of trying to “create divisions” during the war with the United States.The judiciary’s official news outlet on Wednesday announced the execution of Mehdi Khanaki, who was identified as an “active element of a terrorist group” arrested during nationwide protests in January.State television showed security forces raiding a home in Karaj near Tehran, where several handguns, ammunition and explosives were allegedly found. A “revolutionary court” in the city tried him for “operational action in favour of the Zionist regime, the United States and hostile groups”, among other things.On Sunday, two more men were executed in connection with a 16-defendant case arising from deadly protests in Isfahan, in central Iran, on January 8. The authorities said the men played a role in the killing of several police officers, but foreign-based activists have countered the state narrative and alleged a lack of due process and the use of torture.The protests started last December 28 in central Tehran over economic issues but quickly morphed into nationwide expressions of frustration at the establishment, as in previous rounds of demonstrations.The authorities refer to the unrest, when thousands were killed across the country, mostly on the nights of January 8 and 9 , as a “coup” orchestrated by the US and Israel.They also reject findings by Amnesty International and other international human rights organisations that security forces carried out “mass unlawful killings on an unprecedented scale” during a total internet and communications shutdown.Tens of thousands have been arrested in the aftermath of the protests, as well as the US-Israeli war that started on February 28 .The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, a non-governmental body inside Iran, last week condemned what it called “intensified prison sentences and continued pressure on teachers’ guild activists” by the authorities.Security-related offences follow a law passed after the 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, which aims to more severely punish “espionage” and other actions perceived to be cooperating with “enemies” and undermining national security.Hundreds of Iranians, including businessmen and celebrities based in Iran and abroad, have also had their entire assets confiscated by the state.State TV also periodically airs “confessions” from people arrested or executed for those charges.The latest was broadcast on Monday, when a young man with a blurred-out face could be seen saying he posted Instagram stories that opposed the Islamic Republic during the current war. Tehran’s police force said the unidentified man released “norm-breaking and anti-homeland content” online in an attempt to “damage the psychological security of the society”.“I made a mistake and I will not repeat it. I am now sure that we must all now stand together to build Iran, nobody else has a right to commit an aggression against our country,” he said.On July 13 , Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence released a list of “hostile media” that included dozens of media networks, 61 individual “human-media” figures and 310 accounts or online pages. It warned that sending photographs, video or information to a listed outlet, person or account can trigger a prison sentence and permanent exclusion from public employment, unless authorities invoke a more serious charge.‘Infiltrators’The message goes along with rhetoric of steadfastness and togetherness that has been repeatedly emphasised by Iranian authorities during the war.Earlier this week, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was selected as Iran’s new supreme leader in March after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the opening salvo of the war, called for a “sacred unity” among the people and political factions.Speaking during a televised meeting on Monday with President Masoud Pezeshkian and senior clerical judges in the judiciary, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei doubled down on the same message – complete with heavy religious undertones.“We must not allow devils among humans and jinn to infiltrate the ranks of believers and our people to create division and schism,” he said.The judiciary chief said these “alarmists, rumour-spreaders, hypocrites and infiltrators” would not all declare themselves as such, instead disguising themselves as insiders who would set people against each other.This comes as the US increasingly points to alleged rifts among Iranian authorities, and categorises them into a faction that wants to keep fighting, especially over the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, and another group that wishes to reach a negotiated resolution soon in order to stop the country from being destroyed.Iranian authorities have rejected such classifications.