Alleged spy, militant hanged

Iran yesterday executed a man accused of spying for Israel and another for allegedly distributing CDs and leaflets promoting an outlawed opposition group. The hangings come amid a crackdown on activists that has coincided with unpopular economic austerity measures.

Ali Akbar Siadat was accused of peddling military secrets to Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel. Ali Saremi was an alleged member of the militant group Mujahedin Khalq. Both were hanged at dawn inside Tehran's Evin Prison, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Both men were arrested and accused of their crimes years ago, and activists said they were likely executed now as part of an attempt to send a message to the opposition. Public discontent is growing in the wake of a drastic reduction in fuel and food subsidies that has sent prices skyrocketing.

Those who question the government reduction of subsidies have been accused of "economic sedition" meant to undermine the Islamic Republic.

"If anyone wants to abuse the atmosphere that has come about, strict measures will be taken against them," Ali Mohammad Azad, governor of Sistan-Baluchistan province, told state television Saturday.

On Sunday, Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jaffar Dowlatabadi acknowledged that a prominent economist, Fariborz Raisdana, had been arrested because he was trying to "subvert" the subsidies plan in radio interviews.

Already, there are signs that Iranian authorities are preparing the public for a difficult road ahead. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a crowd yesterday in Karaj, the capital of the newly created urban province adjacent to Tehran, that the harsh measures will help Iran overcome poverty and unemployment "in five or six years."

Human rights activists have grown alarmed at Iran's increasing application of the death penalty, especially after suspects are held for weeks or months without access to counsel in interrogation and trials are held secretly in politically charged Revolutionary Courts.

Germany nearly pulled its ambassador from Tehran after Iran hesitated before allowing relatives to visit two jailed German journalists. The pair are accused of trying to illegally interview the son and lawyer of a woman who became an international cause after she was sentenced to death by stoning.

According to IRNA, citing information posted to the website of the Tehran prosecutor, Siadat allegedly began collaborating with Israeli intelligence in 2005, passing on "classified information" to Tel Aviv in exchange for $60,000. He used a business as his cover and "gradually began dispatching secret military information," including the number of Iranian warplanes, activity at military airports, navigational systems and aviation accidents.

He allegedly met "Mossad agents" at hotels in Turkey, Thailand and the Netherlands, and he allegedly confessed to receiving from $3,000 to $7,000 for each rendezvous.

He was arrested in late 2008 as he and his wife tried to escape the country, the report said.