Iran on Wednesday executed a man identified as Mehdi Farid after he was convicted of cooperating with Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, the country’s judiciary said.
According to the judiciary’s official outlet, Mizan Online, Farid was hanged after the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence over what authorities described as “extensive cooperation” with Israeli intelligence. He was found guilty of espionage and the capital offence of “corruption on earth,” a charge often used in national security cases.
Officials said Farid had used his position within a civil defence unit attached to a sensitive government organisation to gather and transmit classified information to Israel. The execution followed the completion of legal procedures, though details of his arrest and trial timeline were not disclosed.
The execution comes amid heightened tensions between Iran, Israel and the United States, following weeks of conflict that began on February 28 before a ceasefire took effect on April 8. Regional tensions have been accompanied by a series of espionage-related arrests and executions inside Iran.
Iranian authorities have also linked recent executions to unrest earlier in the year, which they claim involved foreign-backed networks and opposition groups, including the banned People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran.
In recent weeks alone, several individuals accused of ties to Israeli intelligence or involvement in protest-related violence have been executed, reflecting what officials describe as a broader crackdown on threats to national security during wartime conditions.
The latest execution underscores continuing security tensions in Iran despite the fragile ceasefire currently in place in the wider regional conflict.
