Two 20-year-old twins face execution in Iran over alleged espionage

Two 20-year-old twin brothers held in Iran’s Ghezel Hesar Prison have been sentenced to death on charges of spying for Israel, according to Iranian human rights organisations.

Iran Human Rights, cited by Iran International, said Hassan and Hossein Amiri were convicted by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari.

According to the group, Hassan Amiri was arrested at a checkpoint on March 19 after authorities allegedly discovered an image of a bombed location on his mobile phone.

The organisation, citing an informed source, said Hassan was subjected to torture and forced to falsely confess that his twin brother, Hossein, possessed additional images on a laptop. The source added that neither of the brothers owned a laptop.

Hossein Amiri, who worked as a car mechanic in Karaj, was arrested on March 23. Six days later, both brothers were transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison, where they were interrogated.

HRANA, another rights group, reported that prosecutors based the espionage charges against the two men on images of damaged buildings.

By Tamilla Hasanova