Iran Executes Student Convicted of Spying for the CIA

Iranian authorities have executed a postgraduate student convicted of espionage for the United States and Israel, according to the country’s judiciary, as rights groups criticised the case and said the charges were fabricated.

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Erfan Shakourzadeh, 29, was hanged on Monday after being found guilty of collaborating with the CIA and Israel’s Mossad intelligence service. The execution was reported by the judiciary’s Mizan Online website.

His death is the latest in a series of executions carried out during heightened tensions linked to Iran’s conflict with the United States and Israel.

Espionage conviction

Mizan Online said Shakourzadeh had been working on satellite technology and had supplied foreign intelligence agencies with sensitive information. The report said he shared details about his workplace, level of access, professional duties and other classified material.

Authorities also said his confessions would be broadcast on state television on Monday evening.

According to Iranian officials, the student’s activities amounted to collaboration with both the CIA and Mossad. Iran frequently accuses foreign intelligence services of operating inside the country and has previously executed individuals convicted of espionage.

Shakourzadeh is the fifth person to be executed on spying charges since the war between Iran, the United States and Israel began in late February.

Rights groups dispute case

Human rights organisations outside Iran strongly criticised the execution. Norway-based groups Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Hengaw said Shakourzadeh had denied the accusations and described the case as based on forced confessions.

They said he had been studying aerospace engineering at Tehran’s Iran University of Science and Technology and described him as a high-achieving student.

According to the groups, Shakourzadeh had earlier graduated in electrical engineering from the University of Tabriz and was among the top-ranked students in his postgraduate programme.

IHR said he had been kept in solitary confinement and subjected to torture during detention.

Hengaw reported that he had written a message before his execution stating that the espionage charges were fabricated and that he had been forced to confess after months of isolation and pressure.

The groups said he had been arrested in February 2025 and had spent about nine months in solitary confinement before the execution.

Execution carried out near Tehran

Hengaw said Shakourzadeh had been transferred earlier this month from Tehran’s Evin prison to Ghezel Hesar prison, located outside the capital, where he was executed at dawn.

The execution comes amid a broader increase in capital punishment in Iran, according to human rights organisations.

IHR said authorities had also executed 13 men accused of involvement in protests that took place in January, one person linked to demonstrations in 2022, and 10 individuals accused of ties to banned opposition groups.

Activists have long accused Iran of using executions to deter dissent during periods of domestic unrest and international tension.

Rising number of executions

Iran is widely considered one of the world’s most frequent users of the death penalty. Rights groups say only China carries out more executions each year.

According to a joint annual report released last month by Iran Human Rights and the Paris-based group Together Against the Death Penalty, at least 1,639 people were executed in Iran in 2025. The report said 48 women were among those put to death.

IHR has also recorded at least 190 executions so far in 2026.

Authorities have stepped up executions following waves of protest across the country. One of the most significant demonstrations occurred in 2022–2023 after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian Kurdish woman who died in custody.

Earlier this year, three men were executed after being convicted of killing police officers during those protests. Among them was Saleh Mohammadi, a member of Iran’s national wrestling team.

Iranian judicial officials have defended the use of the death penalty, saying harsher enforcement is needed to counter what they describe as internal and external threats to the country.

Human rights organisations, however, say many cases involve closed-door proceedings in which defendants cannot adequately challenge the accusations against them.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 12 May 2026