On Wednesday morning, the Iranian regime hanged a nuclear scientist who was accused of spying on behalf of Israel. Roozbeh Vadi was convicted of espionage by the Iranian judiciary and sentenced to death.
Vadi's execution isn't the first of its kind to take place in Iran, and it likely won't be the last. Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence said last week in a statement that it had arrested an additional 20 spies and operatives with links to Israel.
Iran previously executed two citizens associated with the Iranian dissident organization, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, known as the PMOI or MEK. Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani-Eslamloo were executed on Sunday, July 27. The two were accused of constructing homemade launchers and mortars to target public service sites, and were labeled “operational members” of the MEK.
Deputy Director Alireza Jafarzadeh represents the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in Washington, D.C. Aligned with MEK, the NCRI identifies itself as "the Iranian people's Parliament-in-Exile and Legislative assembly."
The council advocates for a regime change based on a 10-point plan that prioritizes gender equality, free speech, and separation of church and state.
"Certainly, you can see the sign of desperation of the Iran regime, no doubt about it," said Jafarzadeh. "They've relied on the repression inside the country as a way of holding the population. That has not worked. They have had several rounds of major uprisings in Iran since 2018, and the vast majority of the population are opposed to this regime."
The NCRI described the Iranian regime as vulnerable and desperate.
“They're vulnerable, not just outside of Iran, but also inside the country. So that's why they started. They started waging the executions against the dissidents, particularly the MEK," said Jafarzadeh.
The deputy director went on to address the two MEK members executed by the government of Tehran. "They stood very firm. They remained bold. They paid the price, but it was a signal to the rest of the population that with this regime, there's only one way ahead of us and that's a stand firm against them. Their days are numbered."
The NCRI has also accused the Islamic regime of orchestrating terror across the world — through the Iranian network, through contracted gangs, and through their own military.
Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a former Spanish politician and vocal critic of Iran’s current Islamic regime, was shot in the face last November. The assassination attempt took place in broad daylight while he was walking in Madrid's Retiro Park. "I just moved my head and that is what saved me," Vidal-Quadras said of the attack.
International intelligence agencies, including Israel’s Mossad, Sweden’s Säpo, and the FBI, reported that Iran has escalated its covert strategy of outsourcing attacks to European criminal groups. “This is not a personal vendetta,” said Vidal-Quadras. “It’s a geopolitical strategy.”
The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) stated in its 2024 annual report that the attack on Vidal-Quadras fit a consistent pattern of Iranian state terror. Iran has denied any involvement, calling the accusations “absurd fabrications.”
The NCRI announced Friday that they have evidence two key officials in the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence were involved in the incident. The council named the Deputy for Counter-Terrorism Syed Yahya Hamidi and the Head of Foreign Intelligence Organization Hossein Safdari as complicit in the attempted assissination of Vidal-Quadras.
The council called on the international community to sanction Iran, in order to burden the country's focus on military objectives and to create space for Iranian-based resistance.
“How is it in the world that Iran has the second largest gas and oil reserves combined in the world?" said NCRI Deputy Director Jafarzadeh. "We have a lot of resources, a lot of money, but 80-percent of the population live below the poverty line. Where there the money go? It goes to these proxies. It goes to the development of nuclear weapons."
On June 22, in Operation "Midnight Hammer," the United States bombed Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan in an attempt to delay Iran's nuclear development. The United Nations has also attempted to delay the regime's nuclear development through sanctions.
The remaining sanctions on Iran are set to expire on October 18, 2025. If these sanctions are not reimposed by the United Nations, the UN Security Council will close the nuclear file on Iran, and the possibility of re-initiating the same sanctions will expire permanently.
“The first urgent thing the United States needs to do is to work with the European partners to snap back those sanctions," said Jafarzadeh. "Second, hold the regime accountable because the people of Iran are really suffering as a result of the rule.”
NCRI is calling on the United Nations, specifically the United States, to sanction Iran and Ali Khamenei himself.
“When it comes to the United Nations, the sanctions must be imposed on the regime, but also on the Supreme Leader," said Jafarzadeh. "Supreme Leader himself must pay the price for all of the role that he has played over the years in terrorism."