As war with U.S. eases, Iran steps up hangings of dissidents

In the days before Iran’s regime hanged Nasser Bakerzadeh, the 26-year-old spoke of the normal life he would never return to.

- Henna Moussavi

Bakerzadeh dreamed of returning to run his mobile-phone store, he told fellow inmates in the main prison of Urmia, a city in Iran's northwest. Instead, he was executed for being an Israeli spy—a charge he denied and his lawyer said lacked any credible evidence.

“He just wanted to live, to work, and to make his parents happy,” said Hamid Chapati, a former cellmate.

Bakerzadeh is one of at least 45 people executed in Iran this year on political charges, ranging from spreading propaganda to espionage, according to human-rights groups and Iranian state media.

Most of those death sentences have been carried out in the past three months, as the authorities have hurried to send a message to a restless population: The regime is still firmly in charge, and dissent won't be tolerated.

Tehran has pushed to strengthen its internal hold on power as it starts talks with the US after negotiating a memorandum of understanding that, among other things, will give the regime a financial boost from ending sanctions on oil exports.

Negotiations that began in Switzerland this weekend are aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for broader sanctions relief, though talks have been hampered by continued fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Even with that prospective financial relief, Iran's leaders still face a challenge from their deeply disaffected population. The regime has run out of tools for maintaining control, said Mahmood Amiry-Moghadam, director of Iran Human Rights, a nonprofit group based in Oslo.

“They do not have legitimacy among people. The economy is in a terrible state,” he said. “The only way they can hold on to power is by instigating fear.”