Iran executes man accused of spying for Israel

Iran executed on Saturday a man convicted of spying for the Israeli intelligence and army, State media reported.

State TV identified the executed man as Aghil Keshavarz, saying he had “close intelligence cooperation” with the Mossad and took photos of Iranian military and security areas. Keshavarz was arrested while taking pictures of a military headquarters in the northwestern city of Urmia, some 600 kilometres (371 miles) northwest of the capital Tehran, in May. He was accused of carrying out more than 200 similar assignments for the Mossad in various cities of Iran, including Tehran. He was tried and given the death sentence, a ruling the Supreme Court upheld, the report said. Keshavarz, 27, reportedly studied architecture.

Iran is known to have executed 11 people for espionage since a 12-day air war that Israel waged against Iran in June, killing nearly 1,100 people, including military commanders and nuclear scientists. In return, Iran’s missile barrage killed 28 in Israel.

In October, Iran executed an unknown person convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad in the city of Qom.

Iran routinely conducts closed-door trials of those accused of espionage, with the suspects often unable to access the evidence against them.