Overview
- Iran’s judiciary announced that Mehdi Khanaki was executed for alleged “operational actions” that benefited Israel, the United States and hostile groups and for producing and possessing weapons, according to the state Mizan news agency.
- The Paris‑based National Council of Resistance of Iran said Khanaki was a 26‑year‑old law graduate and a PMOI member who took part in Karaj protests and that he had been subjected to months of physical and psychological torture while detained.
- State and opposition sources say Khanaki’s execution follows a string of recent hangings linked by Iranian media and exile groups to the banned PMOI, with the judiciary reporting about a dozen executions in the same recent period and the NCRI saying eight were executed between March 30 and April 20 and that dozens remain on death row.
- Prisoners at Ghezel Hesar staged a hunger strike and family members protested outside the jail, and rights groups report rising health and communication restrictions for inmates as authorities tighten security during the crackdown.
- Analysts and observers caution that the public framing of dissent as foreign collusion, the stepped‑up use of expanded espionage and protest‑related laws, and the recent executions could fuel new unrest and are being watched for signs of broader political instability.