ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities on Wednesday executed an employee of the country’s Atomic Energy Organization on charges of providing sensitive information to Israel, accusations the prisoner denied during and after his trial.
Mehdi Farid was detained in early 2023 and initially sentenced to 10 years in prison for alleged cooperation with Israel. The prosecutor later appealed the ruling, and his sentence was increased to death.
Iranian intelligence and security services have detained hundreds of people since February 28, when the United States and Israel launched a large-scale air campaign lasting six weeks, during which more than 15,000 targets were struck.
Authorities have executed around a dozen prisoners since April 8, when a fragile ceasefire between the United States, Israel, and Iran was announced. They often rely on confessions extracted under duress to execute these prisoners.
Judiciary officials have repeatedly said they will show no leniency toward those detained during the war for taking photos and videos of strike sites, warning they would be dealt with harshly.
Iranian security forces have been accused of using torture to extract self-incriminating confessions, which are then used as evidence in court to issue death sentences.
In its annual report, Amnesty International painted on Tuesday a bleak picture of the human rights situation in Iran, stating that the death penalty was applied “arbitrarily” and that torture was “widespread and systematic.”
Farid was subjected to severe torture while in detention according to Iranian human rights organisations. State media said Farid was executed for passing sensitive information to Israeli agents.
However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that Farid had informed authorities about unsolicited requests for information from individuals allegedly linked to the Israeli government.
“According to available information, the basis of the charges against Mr. Farid was described as ‘communicating and exchanging certain work-related information with individuals allegedly linked to the Israeli government,’” HRANA reported. “However, according to a source close to his family, Mr. Farid denied any intentional cooperation and stated that he had referred the matter to relevant authorities for legal review.”
Iran executed 1,639 people in 2025 and is expected to carry out many more executions this year following the January protests and the six-week war, during which more than 20,000 people were detained, most of them accused of cooperating with the enemy.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have said that they are fighting on two fronts; one is the external enemy such as Israel and the US and the other the Iranians inside the country who are allegedly assisting the enemy.
On Tuesday, a young protester, Amir Ali Mir Jafari, who had been detained during anti-government demonstrations in January, was also executed on charges of spying for Israel.