ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran on Tuesday executed the alleged head of an Israeli spy network, on charges of intelligence cooperation and espionage for Israel, the judiciary said, as Tehran ramps up executions linked to national security.

Gholamreza Khani Shekarab was hanged after being convicted of “intelligence cooperation and espionage in favor of the Israeli regime, following the confirmation of his sentence by the Supreme Court,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online news website reported.

The Judiciary accused Shekarab of being one of “Mossad’s operational ringleaders abroad,” who allegedly sought to recruit individuals within Iran to carry out “anti-security operations.”

“Assaulting and throwing acid on vehicles targeted by Mossad, damaging and setting fire to public property, conducting sabotage operations, preparing bombs and sending them to Tehran… and sending images of targeted sites to Mossad officers,” were among activities carried out by the suspect and his associates, according to the Judiciary.

According to confessions, Shekarab’s “most important missions” was a purported scheme to assassinate a Jewish rabbi in a “regional country,” for which he gathered relevant information about the individual and his whereabouts, a plan that allegedly “failed after the destination country’s security service intervened.”

Iran has a long history of broadcasting alleged confessions from detainees that are widely believed to be coerced, often obtained through threats, psychological pressure, and, in some cases, physical torture.

Earlier in May, Shekarab was transferred from Evin Prison to solitary confinement in Qezelhesar Prison, according to a report by the Iranian Human Rights Organization. Such transfers are often conducted ahead of imminent executions.

Iran has witnessed a record-high rate of executions, following its war with the US and Israel and the nationwide protests in January.

According to Amnesty International’s 2025 annual report on the use of the death penalty worldwide, global executions have surged to their highest level in over four decades, driven largely by Iran.

The report said Iranian authorities carried out at least 2,159 executions, more than double the previous year and the highest figure recorded in the country in decades. Iran alone accounted for around 80 percent of all recorded executions worldwide.