ع
Iran’s judiciary announced the execution of Hossein Pedaran after the Supreme Court confirmed his death sentence for espionage and intelligence cooperation with Israel, the judiciary-run Mizan news agency reported. Pedaran supplied Israel’s Mossad with information on sensitive military sites in the central province of Isfahan and carried out the activities for financial gain according to Mizan. The spying took place during the 12-day war between Iran, Israel and the United States.
Mizan said Pedaran had provided coordinates and details that could assist hostile intelligence services in targeting Iranian defense facilities. The agency described the case as involving direct collaboration with the Mossad during active conflict. A Dubai-based Reuters newsroom compiled the account from the official Iranian announcement.
The execution forms part of a broader increase in capital punishment for national security offenses since the war began on February 28 with strikes that killed senior Iranian leaders, a pattern documented across multiple judiciary statements. Human Rights Watch reported on July 24 that Iran had executed at least 50 people in the preceding four months on vague national security charges, including several individuals aged 18 and 19. Rights groups have raised concerns about the use of closed-door trials and coerced confessions in such cases though Iranian authorities have rejected those criticisms.
Iran carries out the second-highest number of executions worldwide after China according to assessments by Amnesty International that track global capital punishment trends. The judiciary has described many of the recent cases as responses to activities that threatened state security during periods of regional tension. Pedaran’s hanging follows similar actions taken against individuals convicted of transmitting military data to foreign services.
The central province of Isfahan has featured in several espionage cases because it hosts key defense and nuclear-related installations, a fact noted in past Iranian state media briefings on security threats. Officials have repeatedly warned that Israeli and American intelligence operations seek to gather precise location data on such sites. The latest execution underscores continued judicial efforts to deter collaboration with foreign powers amid ongoing regional instability.
Mizan has issued parallel announcements in recent months detailing the convictions of other defendants accused of similar offenses during both the current conflict and an earlier brief war last summer. In one such case from August authorities executed two men for sending coordinates of military checkpoints that were later targeted. The pattern reflects a judicial focus on cases involving financial motives for espionage as outlined in the Pedaran verdict.
