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Iran on Thursday hanged a man convicted of membership in a banned opposition group, the judiciary said, with an NGO describing him as the latest "political prisoner" to be executed in an unprecedented trend.

Sultan Ali Shirzadi Fakhr was hanged on charges of membership of the People's Mujahedin (MEK) and "collaboration with the Israeli regime's spy service" Mossad, the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported.

He was convicted of a capital offence that in Persian means "waging war against God" and accused of taking part in operations hostile to the Islamic Republic, Mizan said.Rights groups accuse Iran of using capital punishment as a tool of repression, with high-profile executions aimed at instilling fear in society against the backdrop of the war against Israel and the US.

Since wartime executions resumed on March 19, Iranian authorities have now executed eight men on charges related to mass protests this year, and another nine who were accused of being members of the MEK, which is banned in Iran.

Iran also executed an Iranian-Swedish citizen, and anther man who rights groups said worked for the Iranian atomic energy organisation, both on charges of spying for Israel. Two of the alleged MEK members were executed on similar spying charges, an accusation the group has described as absurd.

It was not clear when Shirzadi Fakhr was arrested and only few details have emerged about the case. According to Mizan he was living in Spain and reportedly recently returned to Iran to visit family.The Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) described him as a "political prisoner" said the charges related the alleged activity on behalf of the MEK in the late 1980s.

However unlike in the cases of the other eight men executed in recent weeks accused of membership of the group, the MEK has not confirmed he was a member and has issued no statement on this case."Such a high number of executions of political prisoners over such a short period is unprecedented in the past 30 years," added IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam.

"The Islamic Republic appears to be taking advantage of the war situation to carry out these executions. The international community must respond," he said.Iranian authorities executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, according to IHR, saying this was the highest level recorded since 1989.

AFP