A man found guilty of spying for Israel was set to be executed, Iran’s judiciary announced Monday as the 11th day of hostilities between the two countries began.
“Mohammad-Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh was hanged this morning for intelligence cooperation with the Zionist regime,” the judiciary said, using the Iranian government’s term for Israel.
Shayesteh was accused of having ties to Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, and was also convicted of collaborating with Iran International, a London-based Persian-language broadcaster critical of the Iranian government. Tehran considers the media outlet to be affiliated with Israel.
The broadcaster came under sharp criticism from Iranian authorities during the 2022 nationwide protests that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died in custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women. At the time, the government labelled Iran International a “terrorist organisation”.
Iran regularly announces the arrest or execution of individuals it accuses of cooperating with foreign intelligence services, particularly those of Israel, its long-standing adversary.
On Sunday, Iranian officials vowed to accelerate the handling of such cases. That same day, the judiciary reported the execution of Majid Mosayebi, also convicted of being a Mossad agent.
“Security-related cases, especially those involving support for the usurping regime (Israel) and acting as a fifth column of the enemy, will be handled more swiftly,” judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on state television.
According to human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Iran ranks as the second-highest executor of death sentences in the world, following China.
— AFP
