Iran hangs a man convicted of spying for Israel

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has hanged a man convicted of spying for Israel, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.

According to the reports, Pedram Madani was hanged after Iran’s supreme court upheld a death sentence issued by a lower court. The official IRNA news agency said Madani had visited Israel and met Mossad officers to convey classified information about buildings in Iran where “infrastructure” equipment was installed.

The report did not elaborate but said Madani received foreign currency and cryptocurrency for the information. It said Madani also met Mossad officers at the Israeli Embassy in Belgium.

Israel’s security agency had no immediate comment.

Madani, 41, was arrested in 2020.

Executions in Iran have escalated in recent months. According to Iran Human Rights, a watchdog group based in Norway, at least 60 people have been executed in the past 10 days alone.

Madani was the third person this year executed on charges of “spying for Israel,” which are often based on vague accusations, the organization said.

In April, Iran executed a man convicted of working with Mossad and of playing a role in the 2022 killing of a Revolutionary Guard colonel in Tehran.