ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iran on Monday executed a man accused of being an agent of Israeli and American intelligence agencies, allegedly providing them classified information while working at a satellite field, semi-official media reported.

“While collaborating with the country's important scientific complex, the defendant attempted to contact enemy intelligence services, including the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency], and especially the Mossad intelligence-terrorist service,” the judiciary said according to the Mehr news agency.

The suspect, identified as Erfan Shakurzadeh, had allegedly filled out a cooperation form with the Mossad and had detailed basic personal information “such as personal and family details, place of work, type of access, missions and organizational duties where he was working,” the judiciary said.

The judiciary did not specify what kind of information Shakurzadeh had shared with the intelligence services other than it being “classified.”

His execution came two years after he was arrested, the Oslo-based Hengaw Human Rights said, adding that he was “subjected to nine months of severe physical and psychological torture in solitary confinement in order to extract forced confessions.”

Ahead of Shakurzadeh’s execution, he wrote a letter saying: “I am Erfan Shakourzadeh, one of the few elites who chose not to emigrate... I was arrested on fabricated espionage charges and, after eight and a half months of torture and solitary confinement, was forced into a false confession. Do not let another innocent life be taken in silence,” according to Hengaw.

Iran has carried out at least 21 executions since the onset of its war with the US and Israel in late February, the UN human rights office reported last month, as Tehran continues its crackdown on dissent through national security related charges.

Earlier this month, Iran executed two other prisoners on “espionage charges,” including Kurdish prisoner Nasser Bakrzadeh who in his final letter from prison said, “my first crime was being a Kurd,” and warned that he would not be the last to face such a fate.

Iran’s brutal crackdown on dissent has disproportionately targeted minorities in the country.

In addition to executions, the UN estimated that more than 4,000 individuals have faced arrest on national security related charges, which has a “broad and vague definition” in Iran that puts many at risk of capital punishment.

Iran recorded its highest number of executions in more than 15 years in 2025, according to Amnesty International. Many of the cases involved allegations of espionage, national security charges, and alleged ties to Israel or the US.