Iran has executed a nuclear scientist it claims was spying for Israel, as Tehran continues to crack down on suspected foreign interference.
Roozbeh Vadi was sentenced to death for passing information about another scientist who was then killed during Israel’s strikes on Tehran in June, said Mizan, the judiciary’s online website.
The execution was carried out by hanging, it added.
Mr Vadi reportedly worked as a nuclear expert at the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, according to Iran Human Rights, a local non-profit, and was held in Evin Prison in Tehran since his arrest in February 2024.
Mizan said Mr Vadi transferred “classified information” after he was recruited online by Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service.
He is then alleged to have met with Mossad agents in Vienna on five occasions.
In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran called Operation Rising Lion – with over 900 strikes targeting “the heart” of Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The 12-day Israeli onslaught decimated the upper echelons of the Iranian security forces, killing scores of senior commanders from the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), at least 12 senior nuclear scientists, and hundreds of others.
Mossad infiltrated Iran’s missile and nuclear programmes through years of covert intelligence-gathering, providing key information on target locations and smuggling in drone components and explosives before the initial attack in June.
Tehran has since waged an extensive crackdown as it grapples to regain power and legitimacy after the devastation.
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence claims it is engaged in a “relentless battle” against what it calls Western and Israeli intelligence networks – including the CIA, Mossad, and MI6.
Authorities have carried out a wave of arrests and multiple executions of people suspected of spying for Israel. In the last fortnight, three people have been hanged for bringing “assassination equipment” into Iran on behalf of Israel.
Human rights groups and activists have expressed fears over the latest developments, citing Iran’s longstanding practice of extracting forced confessions and conducting sham trials with no due process.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), a non-profit, said the executions at the hands of Iran’s Revolutionary Court are“only to intimidate society and cover up the corruption and inefficiencies of the system.”
Those accused of espionage are sentenced to death “without access to their chosen lawyer, in an unfair, non-transparent process,” he added.
Iran is the world’s second-most prolific executioner after China, according to human rights groups, including Amnesty International.
