Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat hanged after convictions for providing coordinates and images of military sites during recent conflicts.
Iran has executed two men convicted of espionage and collaboration with Israel, state media reported on Monday, in the latest in a series of hangings linked to national security charges amid ongoing regional conflict.
The judiciary identified the men as Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat. According to the judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency, they were hanged after their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court. Both were accused of transmitting coordinates, images and sensitive information about Iranian military, security and law enforcement sites to Israeli intelligence networks during periods of heightened hostilities.
Iran Details Charges Against Executed Men Accused of Espionage:
Iranian authorities said Behzad repeatedly sent geographical locations and details of sensitive centres to Mossad-linked channels, using mapping software to identify and transmit the data. Officials claimed an administrator of a Telegram channel associated with Israel informed him that the coordinates would be verified and placed in the Israeli military’s target bank.
Safvat was accused of sending images and information on critical sites to the London-based Iran International television network, which Tehran describes as part of a Mossad-linked communication framework. Iranian officials said some of the locations he identified were subsequently bombed. He was also alleged to have filmed and transmitted footage of air defence systems from rooftops during an earlier conflict last year.
Both men were arrested by the intelligence arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The judiciary stated that their convictions rested on recovered digital communications, technical evidence and confessions, and that they had demonstrated clear intent to assist Israeli intelligence during wartime.
The executions took place against the backdrop of intensified conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States that escalated following strikes earlier this year. Iranian officials have repeatedly accused foreign intelligence services of running recruitment networks inside the country during periods of military confrontation.
Rights Groups Question Fairness of Iran Espionage Trials:
Human rights organisations have raised concerns about the fairness of national security trials in Iran, citing patterns of forced confessions, limited access to independent legal representation and opaque judicial processes. Rights groups have also noted a broader increase in executions on vague security-related charges in recent months.
Iran has long ranked among the countries with the highest numbers of executions globally. Tehran maintains that capital punishment for espionage is a legitimate response to threats against national security, particularly during times of war.
The families of the two men were reportedly summoned for a final visit before the sentences were carried out. No independent verification of the evidence presented in the cases has been made public.