Petrochemical zone in southern Iran evacuated after Saturday attack, authorities say

There will be no leniency for those undermining “the public’s psychological and physical security,” Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Saturday.

He said anyone whose actions disrupted public security and served the interests the “aggressor enemy” would face the law in the firmest possible manner.

The judiciary chief said those involved would face decisive action under existing laws, including legislation covering espionage and cooperation with hostile countries.

The Strait of Hormuz has become a strategic advantage for the Islamic Republic under the new security conditions and will not return to its previous state, an Iranian lawmaker said on Saturday.

“No country will have the right to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without the permission of the Islamic Republic,” Abbas Goudarzi said.

Goudarzi added that Iran would defend what he called its strategic position with “full military power.”

“Abolhassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amerian were executed on April 4,” judiciary outlet Mizan wrote, describing them as “terrorists” and listing charges including “armed rebellion,” membership in the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) opposition group and plotting attacks using rocket launchers.

The report said the two were arrested while allegedly preparing to carry out an attack and that the court relied on what it described as confessions and evidence.

Charges and prior sentences

Mizan said Montazer was an “organizational member” of the MEK involved in armed activities, including preparing safe houses used to build launchers and improvised explosives.

Bani-Amerian was accused of conducting propaganda activities in support of the group and taking part in operations targeting various locations.

Both men were sentenced to death in December 2024 by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court under Judge Iman Afshari, alongside four others.

The Islamic Republic had already executed four of those co-defendants – Akbar Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi on March 30, and Pouya Ghobadi Boostani and Babak Alipour on March 31 – on similar charges.

Rising executions and concerns

The latest executions come amid a broader increase in capital punishment tied to protest-related and security cases.

Authorities have also executed Amirhossein Hatami on April 2, as well as Saleh Mohammadi, Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi on March 18, all detained during January protests.

On March 17, the Islamic Republic also carried out the execution of Iranian-Swedish dual national Kourosh Keyvani on espionage charges.

• 

  Iran executes Swedish citizen accused of spying for Israel, judiciary says

Rights groups have warned that thousands of detainees could face similar risks, citing an intensified crackdown that has expanded the use of charges such as “terrorism” against protesters.

The recent wave of executions underscores the continued reliance on capital punishment in Iran’s handling of political dissent, even as broader internal and external pressures persist.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said an attack on the US embassy in Riyadh was not carried out by Iran’s armed forces and condemned the incident.

"Citing The Wall Street Journal, the US embassy in Riyadh has been attacked," read a statement by the IRGC on Saturday.

The attack, Guards said, was “certainly the work of Israel” and added that its own list of targets had already been announced.

Israel’s military said its air force struck air defense systems and missile storage facilities in Tehran during a wave of airstrikes on Friday.

The military said the targets included several air defense sites, including one operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps storing anti-aircraft missiles.

It also said strikes hit a site tasked with protecting weapons research and development facilities, along with a ballistic missile storage location and a weapons production and development site.