Iran executes man convicted of spying for Israel

Iran has carried out the execution of a man convicted of spying on behalf of Israeli intelligence, the judiciary announced on Wednesday.

According to “Mizan Online,” the judiciary’s official outlet, “Babak Shahbazi… was hanged this morning after the completion of judicial proceedings and the confirmation of the verdict by the Supreme Court.”

Last month, Iranian police confirmed the arrest of nearly 21,000 suspects during the twelve-day war with Israel in June.

Police spokesman Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi stated that a large-scale arrest campaign was launched following the start of Israeli airstrikes on June 13, accompanied by heightened security deployment and numerous street checkpoints.

He explained that authorities relied heavily on public reports, after urging citizens to flag suspicious activity, which led to a 41% increase in alerts and the arrest of 21,000 suspects during the conflict.

The spokesman did not specify the exact charges facing the detainees, though Tehran had previously accused some of them of “transmitting information that assisted Israeli strikes.”

During the same period, deportations of undocumented Afghan migrants intensified, with authorities accusing some of espionage on behalf of Israel.

Al-Mahdi noted that security forces had detained 2,774 undocumented migrants, uncovered 30 security-related cases through examining suspects’ phones, arrested 261 individuals suspected of espionage, and 172 others accused of unauthorized filming.