Iran has said it executed six death-row inmates it alleges carried out attacks in the country’s oil-rich southwest on behalf of Israel.

Iran's judiciary said on Saturday that the men killed police officers and security forces, as well as orchestrated bombings targeting sites around Khorramshahr in Iran’s restive Khuzestan province.

"The death sentence for six separatist terrorist elements, who in recent years had carried out a series of armed operations and bombings targeting security in Khuzestan province, was carried out at dawn today," the judiciary said on its Mizan website.

The identities of those executed and details of their arrests and sentencing were not immediately clear. But Mizan reported that they were involved in the killings of four security personnel, including two police officers and two members of the Basij paramilitary force, in 2018 and 2019.

The report also said they had "confessed to planning and executing acts of sabotage such as making and planting bombs, blowing up the Khorramshahr gas station".

Increasing executions

Entangled in a decades-long shadow war with Israel, Iran has executed many individuals it has accused of spying for Israel and its intelligence service, Mossad.

Executions have significantly increased this year, with at least 10 death sentences carried out in recent months.

The Iran-Israel conflict escalated into a direct war in June when Israel struck various targets inside Iran, including through attacks that relied on Mossad officials being deployed deep inside the country.