Iran says it executed nine Islamic State group militants detained after a 2018 attack

Iran executed nine IS militants involved in a 2018 attack, highlighting ongoing tensions with the extremist group.

Iran said Tuesday (June 11, 2025) it executed nine militants of the Islamic State group detained after a 2018 attack.

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency announced the executions, saying that the death sentences had been upheld by the country’s top court.

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It described the militants as being detained after they were in a clash in the country's western region with Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, in which three troops and several IS fighters were killed. Authorities said they had seized a cache of combat weapons, including a machine gun and 50 grenades, after surrounding the militants' hideout.

Iran carries out executions by hanging. In the past eight months, it has executed an average of one person every six hours, according to Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of advocacy group Iran Human Rights.

He said Tuesday's executions were issued without fair trials and that there have been no updates about seven others reportedly detained in the 2018 attack.

IS, which once held vast territory across Iraq and Syria in a self-described caliphate it declared in 2014, was ultimately beaten back by U.S.-led forces.