Iran executed a man convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad, according to Iranian state media that reported the execution on Wednesday.
The official IRNA news agency identified the man as Ali Ardestani. IRNA said Ardestani relayed sensitive information to Mossad officers in return for financial rewards, which it described as cryptocurrencies.
IRNA’s report also said Ardestani confessed to the spying charges. It said he hoped to receive a million-dollar reward and a British visa, and it described him as having provided images and footage of “special places” to Mossad agents.
The IRNA report did not elaborate on the time and place of Ardestani’s detention. It also said Israel recruited him online, according to the AP’s account of the state media report, and that his case went through legal procedures in primary courts as well as Iran’s Supreme Court.
Human rights organizations and Western governments have condemned Iran’s increasing use of capital punishment, particularly for political and espionage-related offenses. Activists argue that many convictions rely on coerced confessions and that trials often occur behind closed doors without access to independent legal representation.
Tehran, however, maintains that those executed were “agents of hostile intelligence services” involved in acts of terrorism or sabotage. Iranian officials have accused Israel of orchestrating a campaign of covert attacks inside Iran, including assassinations of nuclear scientists and cybersabotage of strategic facilities.
The AP report said Tehran has executed 12 people for espionage since a June air war that Israel waged against Iran, killing nearly 1,100 people, including senior military commanders and nuclear scientists. It said Iran’s missile barrage killed 28 in Israel, and that the exchange left both sides on high alert while further inflaming tensions across the region.
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