Iran executes man convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad, says judiciary

Posted on by Taiwo Adebulu

3 min readUpdated: May 26, 2026 05:46 PM IST

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Iranian authorities reportedly executed a man convicted of espionage and cooperation with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency on Tuesday, the country’s judiciary announced.

“Gholamreza Khani Shakarab was executed on charges of intelligence cooperation and espionage in favour of the Zionist regime,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported, noting that the Supreme Court had upheld the sentence.

The execution is the latest in a sharp uptick of Iranian hangings on espionage and security charges since the war with Israel and the US began in February, with rights groups warning that wartime conditions are accelerating death-penalty cases through opaque trials.

Charges against Gholamreza Khani Shakarab

Mizan described Shakarab as “one of the operational ringleaders of Mossad abroad… who was seeking to recruit individuals inside the country” for “anti-security actions.” According to the Mizan Online report, he was apprehended by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence forces through a sting operation. “Ultimately, in a complex operation and using intelligence deception tactics, the accused was guided into the country and arrested,” it said.

The judiciary’s report further alleged that Shakarab had been directed by Mossad “to travel to one of the regional countries to identify and prepare the groundwork for the assassination of a Jewish rabbi… to accuse Iran of anti-Jewish actions.” It was not immediately clear when he was arrested or when the sentence was handed down.

“Finally, after reviewing the case… and after legal proceedings and confirmation of the sentence in the Supreme Court, the accused was executed by hanging this morning,” the report stated.

Past executions

A day earlier, Iran executed a man convicted of conducting armed attacks during nationwide protests that peaked in January. On Sunday, Mojtaba Kian was hanged on espionage charges, in what was reported as the first such execution directly linked to spying offences since the conflict began.

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

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