Tehran: Iran has executed two persons, including an employee of its Atomic Energy Organisation (AEO) over the last few days, drawing flak from human rights groups.
A man, identified as Mehdi Farid, was executed early Wednesday after being convicted of spying for Israel, Iran International reported.
Farid, who worked at a “sensitive organisation”, had maintained online contact with officers from Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, and passed on classified information, including details related to organisational structures, security arrangements and infrastructure, officials claimed.
Farid was an employee at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, rights groups said, as reported by The Indian Express.
Farid led a non-military defence management committee and had enabled external access to internal systems by connecting servers to infected files and using USB devices, acting on instructions from a Mossad handler, Iran’s judiciary held.
He allegedly confessed to transferring information in exchange for promises of payment and assistance in leaving the country, the authoritie
s said.
Farid was arrested in 2023 and initially sentenced to 10 years in prison before receiving the death penalty after a retrial on espionage charges, Iran International reported. He had been held in Tehran’s Greater Tehran prison and later transferred to Evin prison, raising concerns over due process and the use of forced confessions.
A series of similar cases tied to Iran’s nuclear sector and alleged Israeli links have been reported over the last several years. Several idividuals, accused of espionage, have been executed over the last few months., including a nuclear engineer and a scientist.
Rights organisations have alleged that such cases often involve opaque legal proceedings and coerced confessions.
The second person to be executed was identified as Erfan Kiani. He was executed on Saturday over his role in anti-establishment protests that took place in January. Judiciary-affiliated.
Kiani was accused of leading a group in Isfahan that engaged in acts such as damaging property, setting fires, using Molotov cocktails, blocking roads and attacking security personnel during the unrest. He was portrayed by state media as a central figure in efforts to spread “fear and chaos”, linking his actions to what authorities describe as foreign-backed activities.
Authorities executed two men earlier this month over an attempt to storm a military facility to access weapons, while another individual was executed over allegations of setting fire to a mosque during the unrest.