Man Hanged for Espionage in Iran; At Least 9 Executions Since Start of War

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 22, 2025: Iran state media reported the execution of Majid Mosayebi on security-related charges through espionage for Israel. According to unverified reports, Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh, another espionage defendant, was transferred to pre-execution solitary confinement cells. Since the start of the Israel-Iran war on 13 June 2025, at least nine men have been executed in Iran, two of whom were on death row for espionage charges.

Iran Human Rights previously warned of the intensification of repression and executions of defendants accused of espionage for Israel. Referring to executions being carried out despite the ongoing war, IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam wrote: “The country is under bombardment, and everyone is enduring emergency conditions, yet executions continue—because the death penalty is the secret to the Islamic Republic’s survival!”

According to the judiciary's Mizan news agency, a man named Majid Mosayebi was hanged at an undisclosed location on 22 June 2025. The report does not specify the location of the execution or date of his arrest.

The report states that Majid was sentenced to death by the Isfahan Revolutionary Court on charges of “moharebeh (enmity against God) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) through intelligence collaboration and espionage for the "Zionist enemy state.”

Those arrested on charges such as espionage are sentenced to death by Revolutionary Courts without access to a lawyer, due process or fair trials, often based on confessions extracted under torture.

IHRNGO previously published a list of ten people on death row for charges of spying for Israel. Majid Mosayeb’s name was not on that list and no information was previously published about him.

Many of those arrested and sentenced to death on charges such as espionage are often reluctant to make their cases public for fear of hasty executions, and are ultimately executed in silence.

In the days following the start of the war, more than 200 people were arrested in Iran on charges of spying and collaborating with Israel.

Furthermore, since the beginning of the war, at least nine people have been executed in prisons across Iran, two of whom were accused of spying for Israel, and the seven others were on death row for murder, drug-related and rape charges.

IHRNGO has also received reports of more executions which it has been unable to verify due to war conditions and internet shutdown.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, June 22, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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