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Iran executed two men in separate cases on Wednesday, having accused one of spying for Israel and another of being a member of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, state media reported.
Judiciary news outlet Mizan identified the alleged spy as Rouzbeh Vadi, who was accused of relaying classified information to Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad.
Authorities said Vadi provided information about an Iranian nuclear scientist who was killed during Israel’s June airstrikes on Iran, according to Mizan. Its report did not identify the scientist or the time and place of Vadi’s arrest.
Vadi was reportedly recruited online and met the Mossad officers five times in the Austrian capital Vienna.
He worked in one of Iran’s “important and sensitive organisations” and “committed a wide range of crimes against the country’s internal and external security”, Mizan reported.
Israel’s ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, said in June that Israel’s 12-day war on Iran included targeted strikes that killed at least 14 physicists and engineers involved with Iran’s nuclear programme.
Since the conflict, Iranian authorities have ramped up an internal security crackdown nationwide — ranging from mass arrests to executions.
At least seven people have reportedly been hanged in recent months for spying for Israel.
In a separate case, Iran also hanged an alleged member of IS on Wednesday after he was accused of plotting sabotage, Mizan reported.
Mehdi Asgharzadeh was accused of being an IS member who participated in military training in Syria and Iraq before illegally entering Iran with a four-member team who were killed in a fight with Iranian security, according to the outlet.
Authorities said Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the sentences of lower courts and followed full legal procedures before executing both men, Mizan reported.
The number of executions in Iran rose to at least 901 last year, the highest annual figure since 2015, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Amnesty International last week said that nearly 700 people had been hanged in Iran so far this year.
The group urged Iran to halt all planned executions and “establish an official moratorium on all executions with a view to completely abolishing the use of the death penalty”.
Additional sources • AP
