Iran executed a 29-year-old aerospace engineer, Erfan Shakourzadeh, on Monday after convicting him of espionage for the CIA and Mossad. Human rights groups had warned of his imminent execution and published a note he wrote from prison alleging his confession was coerced through torture.
Shakourzadeh, born in 1996, studied electrical engineering at the University of Tabriz before graduating first in his class in a master's programme in Aerospace Engineering and Satellite Technology at Iran University of Science and Technology. He was considered one of Iran's leading young talents in aerospace and worked at a scientific organisation specialising in satellites when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence detained him in February 2025.
Allegations and Legal Proceedings
Mizan News Agency, affiliated with Iran's judiciary, described Shakourzadeh as a joint CIA and Mossad spy, claiming he was recruited for his expertise. The judiciary stated he attempted to contact Mossad and the CIA in three stages and passed classified information to foreign intelligence services. No details of the evidence or legal proceedings were made public before his execution.
In a note smuggled out of prison, Shakourzadeh denied the charges. "I am Erfan Shakourzadeh, 29, one of the few so-called elites who refused to emigrate," he wrote. "A few months before the 12-day conflict, I was detained by the IRGC intelligence on trumped-up charges of espionage and collaboration with enemy countries (at war with Iran), and I was forced to make a confession during eight and a half months of torture and solitary confinement."
Human rights organisations reported he was transferred on Friday to Qezel Hesar prison in Karaj, central Iran, ahead of his execution. He had previously been held at Evin Prison in Tehran following his arrest.
His execution brings to nearly 30 the number of people hanged by Iran in recent weeks on charges related to alleged political activity, security offences, and the January protests. This follows a pattern of increasing use of the death penalty, as seen in Iran Executes Seven, Including Three Protesters, Amid Rising Death Penalty Use and Iran Executes Two Men on Espionage Charges Amid International Condemnation.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about Iran's judicial processes and human rights record, which have drawn international condemnation. European governments and human rights organisations have repeatedly called for an end to executions and fair trials. The execution also underscores the broader geopolitical tensions between Iran and Western intelligence agencies, including the CIA and Mossad.
For European readers, this story resonates with similar espionage cases on the continent, such as Austria Expels Three Russian Diplomats Over Antenna-Based Espionage in Vienna and Kazakh National Arrested in Berlin on Suspicion of Espionage for Russia, reflecting the global nature of intelligence activities and the human cost of such allegations.
