Iran executes first man accused of espionage during current war with US and Israel

Mojtaba Kian is convicted of sharing information related to Iran’s defense capabilities during the nearly 40-day Israel-US war with the Islamic Republic

Iran on Sunday hanged a man convicted of espionage, the judiciary said, the first known execution for a spying offense committed during the most recent war with Israel and the United States.

“Mojtaba Kian… who sent information related to the country’s defense industry units to the enemy, was hanged early this morning,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported.

It said he shared information related to Iran’s defense capabilities during the nearly 40-day war.

The execution is the first directly linked to spying offences carried out during the war, which broke out on February 28 when US-Israeli strikes killed senior Iranian leaders, triggering retaliatory attacks by Tehran across the region.

Israel and the US launched the war in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

Since the start of the conflict, Iran has stepped up executions for spying or collaborating with Israel and the US, although before Sunday, all those hanged were sentenced for offenses carried out before the war.

According to Mizan, Kian “sent multiple messages to hostile networks affiliated with the Zionist-American enemy, including coordinates and information on facilities producing parts related to the country’s defense industries.”

Mizan said he sent information to satellite television networks. It did not identify those networks, but Iranian authorities have frequently accused Persian-language media outlets based abroad of cooperating with Israel.

The Mizan report said one “targeted location” in Iran was struck during the war after Kian passed on information about its whereabouts.

“The sentence was carried out early this morning after completion of legal formalities,” Mizan said.

The website said Kian’s execution took place “less than 50 days” after his arrest, while his assets were also confiscated.

Iran carries out the second-highest number of executions in the world after China, according to rights groups including Amnesty International.

The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights says the Islamic Republic executed at least 1,500 people last year, one of the highest numbers worldwide.

On Thursday, the country executed two men convicted of armed rebellion and membership in what authorities described as “separatist terrorist groups,” a phrase often used to refer to Iranian Kurdish groups based in neighbouring Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

In response to Thursday’s executions, UN rights chief Volker Turk’s office said on X that, “Since the military escalation began, at least 34 people have been executed on political and national security charges, including in the context of the January protests. It is unacceptable that the Iranian authorities are instrumentalizing the current conflict to further stifle dissent,” Turk’s office said on X.

Israel and the US launched a war against the Iranian regime at the end of February, with a shaky ceasefire in place since April 8.