Iran has executed a man accused of spying for Israel, Iranian state media reported, after the rights group Amnesty International said the man, Babak Shahbazi, had been sentenced to death in an unfair trial marred by allegations of torture.
Newsweek contacted the Israeli government for comment.
Why It Matters
The reported execution reflects Iran’s intensifying efforts to root out suspected espionage following the “12-day war” in June, which saw Israel and the U.S. strike Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iran has executed several people accused of spying for Israel over recent months, including three men on June 25, as part of a sweeping crackdown launched after the Israeli and U.S. attacks in June.
Human rights groups, citing concerns over forced confessions, have condemned a wave of hundreds of arrests and warned that the government is using the June conflict as a pretext to escalate repression.
What To Know
“Babak Shahbazi, who was tried on charges of espionage and intelligence cooperation with the Mossad service, was executed this morning (September 16) after the verdict was confirmed by the Supreme Court,” the Iranian news agency SNN, or Student News Network, reported.
The news agency referred to a man executed in June, Esmaeil Fekri, who it said had collaborated with Shahbazi “due to Shahbazi’s work connections with sensitive centers and intellectual expertise in the field of computer networks.”
“While traveling to important centers of the country, Shahbazi transferred information about data centers and critical infrastructure to the Mossad service in exchange for money and the promise of residence abroad,” it said.
“Under the guidance of Mossad officers…he sent detailed information about projects, active forces, profiles of key individuals, and weaknesses of sensitive centers abroad.”
Before the execution of Shahbazi was announced, Amnesty International said Iranian authorities had denied him access to a lawyer for months after his arrest and subjected him to torture, including prolonged solitary confinement and threats to harm his family, to extract “confessions.”
“Iran’s authorities must immediately halt plans to execute Babak Shahbazi, who was sentenced to death after an unfair trial marred by torture allegations,” the rights group said.
It called for global action to urge Iranian authorities to halt any plans to execute Shahbazi.
The U.N. Office for Human Rights said in a recent report that Iran executed 841 people this year, up to August 28, marking a steep increase in the use of the death penalty since 2024.
“The high number of executions indicates a systematic pattern of using the death penalty as a tool of state intimidation, with disproportionate targeting of ethnic minorities and migrants,” the U.N. office said.
What People Are Saying
Amnesty International said in a statement: “Urgent action is needed NOW to halt further executions in Iran. Iranian authorities must immediately implement a moratorium on all executions and abolish the death penalty.”
What Happens Next
Iran’s crackdown and hunt for spies is likely to continue in the absence of any prospect of an easing of tension with Israel, especially in the absence of a diplomatic breakthrough in nuclear talks between Iran and European parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
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