Iran executes 9 'ISIS militants' amid surge in jihadist extremism: What to know
While Iran has long claimed full eradication of the Islamic State through a campaign waged by late general Qasem Soleimani, the country has been grappling with a deadly resurgence of the militant group in recent years.
TEHRAN — Iran executed nine "members of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS)" who were convicted of attempting to carry out a coordinated terror operation inside the country in 2018, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan News reported on Tuesday.
The death sentences were carried out after Iran's Supreme Court upheld the verdicts. The unnamed individuals were found guilty of illegal possession of military-grade weapons and baghi, or armed rebellion, which is punishable by death under Iran's penal code.
According to Mizan, the arrests were made following a confrontation in February 2018. At the time, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Ground Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), announced that an ISIS team had crossed into Iranian territory to stage multiple attacks in border and central cities.
The IRGC's elite Najaf base, along with intelligence forces — often referred to in official discourse as "the anonymous soldiers of Imam Zaman" — identified the group's location in a rugged region of western Iran. A military operation ensued, during which several ISIS militants were killed, some by their own suicide vests, while others were captured. Three IRGC soldiers were also killed in the clashes, according to Iran's state media.
