September 17, 2025 | 07:44 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Iran has executed a man who was sentenced to death on charges of working as a spy for the foreign intelligence agency Israel's Mossad, on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, according to local media, as reported by Anadolu.
"Babak Shahbazi, convicted of espionage and security cooperation with the Israeli regime, was executed today after legal proceedings and Supreme Court approval confirmed his role in intelligence exchanges with Mossad-linked operatives," reported the state news agency IRNA.
Shahbazi, who worked in the design and installation of industrial cooling systems for companies related to telecommunications, military, and security institutions, was suspected of offering to sell important information about senior Iranian officials to Mossad agents identified as Esmaeil Fikri.
Fikri was executed in June 2025 for spying for Israel.
Shahbazi was accused of holding encrypted online meetings with Israeli agents, receiving training from Mossad, and attempting to gather sensitive information about senior officials and strategic facilities.
In recent years, Israel and Iran have announced the dismantling of spy networks amid the ongoing rivalry between the two arch-enemies.
As reported by Newsweek, the reported execution reflects Iran's intensive efforts to eradicate alleged espionage after the "12-day war" in June, which resulted in Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Iran has executed several people accused of being spies for Israel in the past few months. This includes three individuals on June 25, as part of the crackdown launched after the Israeli and U.S. attacks in June.
Alleged Torture
Human rights groups, citing concerns over forced confessions, have condemned the wave of arrests of hundreds of people in Iran and warned that the government is using the June conflict as a pretext to escalate repression.
Prior to the announcement of Shahbazi's execution, Amnesty International stated that Iranian authorities had denied access to his lawyer for months after his arrest. He was allegedly tortured, including prolonged solitary confinement and threats to harm his family, to obtain "confessions."
"Iran's authorities must immediately halt plans to execute Babak Shahbazi, who was sentenced to death after an unfair trial marred by torture allegations," said the human rights group.
They called for global action to urge Iranian authorities to stop Shahbazi's execution plans.
The UN Human Rights Office stated in a recent report that Iran has executed 841 people by August 28, marking a sharp increase in the use of the death penalty since 2024.
"The high number of executions indicates a systematic pattern of using the death penalty as a tool of state intimidation, with disproportionate targeting of ethnic minorities and migrants," the UN office said.
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