Iran executes man after Israel espionage conviction

Authorities in Iran have executed an unidentified man who was allegedly acting as a spy for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

"The death sentence was carried out this morning against a spy of the Zionist regime in Zahedan prison" in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency reported.

It said the man had been convicted of "intelligence cooperation and espionage for the benefit of the hostile Zionist regime," using the Iranian government's term for Israel.

Passing on documents to Mossad

The man was also found guilty of "collecting and providing classified information to the Mossad spy service with the aim of disrupting public order," Mizan added.

The Tasnim news agency, which is semi-official and linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said the executed man had been accused of passing on confidential documents to foreign agencies, including Mossad.

In April 2022, Iranian intelligence officers arrested three people they said belonged to a group linked to Mossad. It is not clear if the executed person was one of them.

It comes at a time when tensions in the region, and in particular between Iran and Israel, are particularly high amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas — a militant group recognized as a terrorist organization by the US, Germany, the EU and other governments, yet supported by Tehran.

Iran and Israel have both accused each other of spying in recent years.

Israel's concerns over Iran's nuclear threat

Israel was staunchly opposed to a nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers in 2015 to put the brakes on its nuclear program.

The agreement had sharply limited Iran's nuclear program, while forcing Tehran to comply with strict international verification procedures in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

But Israel argued that the restrictions on Iran's nuclear enrichment were not permanent and that the accord failed to address the nation's missile program or military activities in the region.

Iran has also previously accused Israel of being behind the killing of Iranian scientists involved in its nuclear program.

Israel itself is believed to have a number of nuclear weapons, but has never officially acknowledged this.

jsi/ab (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)