Iran executes ‘one of most important spies’ for Israel

• Iranian apex court rejects defendant’s appeal, reports media outlet.
• Court says corruption on earth charges proved against Choubi-asl.
• Executions increased this year; at least 10 hanged in recent months

Iran executed a man named Bahman Choubi-asl on Monday, the judiciary’s news outlet Mizan said, saying the defendant was “one of the most important spies for Israel in Iran”.

Entangled in a decades-long shadow war with Israel, Iran has executed many individuals it accuses of having links with Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and facilitating its operations in the country.

“The main goal of Mossad in attracting the defendant’s cooperation was to obtain the database of governmental institutions and create a breach in Iranian data centres, along with which it also pursued other secondary goals, including investigating the route of importing electronic equipment,” Mizan said.

The Supreme Court had rejected the defendant’s appeal and confirmed the death sentence on charges of “corruption on earth”, it said.

The Iran-Israel conflict escalated into a direct war in June when Israel struck various targets inside Iran, including through operations that relied on Mossad commandos being deployed deep inside the country.

Executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel have significantly increased this year, with at least 10 death sentences carried out in recent months.