Court documents reveal Iranian intelligence contacts in Sweden

The prisoners arrested in the city of Mahallat have been identified as Erfan Khalili, Ali-Akbar Mahlooji, Hesam Issaei, Hossein Shokouhi and Abolghasem Kazem-Aslani.

They are being held in Arak prison and have only 10 days to appeal the verdicts.

Their verdict was announced on the same day that fellow political prisoner Arghavan Fallahi was sentenced to death on a charge of “baghi,” or armed rebellion, the US-based HRANA news agency reported.

The 24-year-old, held in Evin Prison, was sentenced by Judge Abolghasem Salavati of Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, HRANA said.

The charge was based on allegations of membership in anti-government groups and involvement in armed activities. Human rights activists say she is accused of links to the exiled opposition group Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK).

Salavati also sentenced political prisoner Mehdi Nazer and his fiancée, Mahnaz Chardouli, to death and also 10 years in prison. The couple were arrested in Tehran on January 11, 2026.

The charges include attacking a mosque with Molotov cocktails, taking part in illegal gatherings, “assembly and collusion,” and alleged offenses under Iran’s espionage law, including cooperation with Israel.

The sentences come as rights groups have warned against the Islamic Republic’s growing use of capital punishment following nationwide unrest and the US-Israel war against Iran.

Iran Human Rights, based in Norway, and Together Against the Death Penalty, based in Paris, said in a joint annual report released in April that the Islamic Republic executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, the highest annual figure recorded in Iran since 1989.

The groups said the number marked a 68% increase from 975 executions in 2024 and included 48 women.

Stana and Badea, who received 12 years and eight years in prison, respectively, were found guilty last month of wounding Zeraati with intent in the 2024 attack.

The Judge agreed with the prosecution’s case and assessment that this was a state-sponsored attack, concluding that the evidence overwhelmingly supported the conclusion that the attack was carried out in the interests of and on behalf of the Iranian state, according to a police statement.

"The judge ruled that the ‘foreign power condition’ under section 31 of the National Security Act was met in the case of Stana due to the extensive planning and his lengthy involvement in the plot, indicating that he knew, or at very least ought to have known of the connection to the Iranian state," the statement said.

"The condition was not deemed to have been met in the case of Badea, who was not aware of the connection to Iran as the motivation behind the attack."

UK Security Minister Angela Eagle said the "abhorrent" attack on Zeraati was “carried out on behalf of Iran before both men cowardly fled the country.”

“These sentences send a clear message: anyone acting on behalf of a foreign state to commit crimes in the UK will be identified, pursued and punished,” she said.

Eagle added that Britain takes the threat from Iran “extremely seriously” and vowed that the UK would “continue to hold the regime to account.”

Chief Superintendent Kris Wright, head of Protective Security Operations for Counter Terrorism Policing London, told Iran International after the sentencing that police and prosecutors had always treated the attack as one “coordinated and orchestrated on behalf of, or by, the Iranian regime.”

He said the judge’s sentencing remarks showed she was satisfied the evidence presented in court was strong enough to use powers under the National Security Act to increase the offenders’ sentences.

The case has drawn renewed attention to threats facing Persian-language journalists and dissidents in Britain, particularly after UK authorities previously said they had disrupted around 20 Iran-related plots or hostile activities since 2022.

Wright said Counter Terrorism Policing had worked extensively with Persian-language media organizations in London and across the UK for several years, adding that police recognized the position they were in and would continue helping them “enjoy the freedoms available in the UK” and continue their work.

Asked whether the attack reflected a broader pattern, Wright said police were seeing “an increasing number of hostile activities, criminal activities, and planning activities” directed or coordinated by foreign states.

He said authorities were also seeing a growing use of “criminals-for-hire,” or proxies, including UK-based criminals and individuals who enter the country on behalf of foreign regimes to carry out attacks.

Wright said one suspect in the Zeraati case remains outside UK custody and is still subject to legal proceedings in Romania. He said the Metropolitan Police were working closely with international partners and remained “fully committed” to bringing everyone involved to justice.

“This is a hugely important verdict today, and it sends a message to regimes around the world that Britain values and thrives on democracy,” Wright said.

“Those who seek to undermine the values we hold dear will not be allowed to thrive here in the UK,” he added, saying police would use every available means within the justice system to hold those responsible to account and expose the overseas agencies, bodies and regimes behind such activity.

Judge Abolghasem Salavati, head of Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, also sentenced Nazer’s sister, Atefeh Nazer, to 10 years in prison.

The three political prisoners were arrested in Tehran on January 11, 2026.

The charges include attacking a mosque with Molotov cocktails, taking part in illegal gatherings, “assembly and collusion,” and alleged offenses under Iran’s espionage law, including cooperation with Israel.

Information shared with Iran International indicates that the charges of attending protests and attacking a mosque were brought despite there being no published reports of any protest or mosque attack on the date of their arrest.

A source familiar with their case said Salavati sentenced each of the three to 10 years in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion,” even though the legal punishment for that charge is two to five years in prison.

The families of the prisoners have been under heavy pressure from security agencies not to publicize the case, according to the information received.

During the legal proceedings, the three were represented by a court-appointed lawyer, Younes Karimi.

A source familiar with the case said Karimi had received money from the families but effectively followed Salavati’s demands during the proceedings.

Lawyer Hojjat Kermani said Kashani's sister, Sima Kashani, was also arrested. He said it was not immediately clear which security agency had detained the three, according to the Emtedad news website.

Kermani said the arrests, ahead of a long public holiday and the closure of judicial offices, had increased concern among their families.

• 

  Iran Releases Environmentalists Accused Of Spying After Six Years

Jokar and Kashani were among a group of environmental activists arrested in 2018 by the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence organization. They were later convicted on espionage charges after a case that drew criticism from human rights groups and UN experts over the arrests, interrogations and trial.

Jokar was sentenced to eight years in prison and Kashani to six years. The other defendants were released from Tehran's Evin prison at different times, with the last of them freed in April 2024.

• 

  2,800 Activists Call On Iran’s Judiciary To Reconsider Jailed Environmentalists’ Case

One of the defendants, Iranian-Canadian conservationist Kavous Seyed-Emami, died in custody about a month after his arrest in 2018. Iranian judicial officials said he had killed himself, a conclusion rejected by his family.

The latest arrests come amid reports by rights groups of a new wave of detentions of civil, political and labor activists across Iran following recent unrest and the war with Israel and the United States.

The US-Iran memorandum of understanding failed to address human rights and risked leaving Iranians without accountability, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran Mai Sato said, according to a report by Geneva Solutions on Wednesday.

“The Iranian people are barely visible in the framework,” Sato said in the interview conducted last Friday. “It serves geopolitical interests while leaving the Iranian people behind.”

She also said the crackdown on Iran’s nationwide protests should not be forgotten as attention turns to the war and US-Iran diplomacy.

“The war started soon after the crackdown on the nationwide protests that began at the end of December 2025, when the Iranian people spoke up and asked for fundamental change – and I think that should not be forgotten,” Sato said.

She warned that an agreement that excludes human rights could return Iran to its pre-war conditions or make repression worse.

“An MoU, and the final agreement, that doesn't address the human rights situation risks simply reverting to how things were before or worse enabling further repression through a continued lack of accountability,” she said.

Sato said the MoU focused almost entirely on military withdrawal, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and nuclear commitments, with only a reconstruction fund pointing indirectly to the public’s needs.

“It’s worth noting, though, that not all of the economic hardship stems from the war or sanctions; domestic policy decisions have also played a part,” she said.

Sato said she wanted any final deal to include a halt to executions, the release of people arbitrarily detained, a guarantee of open internet access and protection of civic space.

She also said she had contacted US authorities about alleged rights violations during the war but had not received a response.

“I have indeed reached out, but haven't received a response,” she said.