Iran executes four pesrons for "collaborating" with Israel's Mossad

Iran executed on December 29 four people, including a woman, whom it accused of being "saboteurs" with links to Israel's Mossad intelligence service.

The executions took to five the number of people put to death in December in a decades-long shadow war that has seen Iran accuse Israel of attacks on its nuclear effort, charges the latter has never confirmed or denied, Reuters reports citing the Mizan news agency affiliated to the judiciary.

"Four members of a sabotage team associated with the Zionist regime ... were executed on December 29 morning following legal procedures," the news agency said, accusing them of "extensive" actions, guided by Mossad officers, targeting Iran's security.

The executions in West Azerbaijan province followed Iran's mid-December execution of a fifth accused Mossad agent in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency identified the four executed on December 29 as Vafa Hanareh, Aram Omari, and Rahman Parhazo, along with the woman, named Nasim Namazi.

The official IRNA news agency posted a video clip nearly eight minutes in length, that showed the men confessing to their alleged cooperation with a Mossad officer in neighbouring Türkiye, who used two names, Tony and Arash.

It said their mission entailed kidnappings, threatening and setting fire to vehicles and homes of unnamed targets and stealing their mobile phones.