11 Executed on Espionage Charges in June
Further Executions Followed
According to reports from AP and AFP, citing local media on December 20 (local time), a man in Iran who was accused of assisting the Israeli intelligence agency has been executed.
The executed individual was identified as Aqil Keshavarz. He was arrested by authorities in May while filming a military facility in Urmia, a city in northwestern Iran. Urmia is located approximately 600 kilometers from the capital, Tehran.
The Iranian judiciary claimed that Keshavarz had carried out more than 200 acts of espionage in Tehran and other cities, supporting the Israeli intelligence agency. He was indicted on espionage charges and brought to trial. The Supreme Court upheld the lower court's guilty verdict and death sentence, making the ruling final, and the execution was subsequently carried out.
Previously, in September, Iran also executed another man described as "one of the most important Israeli spies operating within Iran." In addition, following a 12-day aerial conflict with Israel in June, it was reported that 11 people were executed on espionage charges.
During that conflict, about 1,100 people in Iran, including military commanders and nuclear scientists, were killed, while retaliatory attacks from Iran reportedly resulted in 28 deaths in Israel. Although concerns about a full-scale war escalated, both sides eventually agreed to a ceasefire through mediation by the United States.
Meanwhile, international human rights organizations have continuously criticized Iranian authorities for abusing the death penalty as a means to suppress anti-government sentiment. According to the United Nations, more than 1,000 people were executed in Iran between January and September this year. There is also analysis suggesting that, considering trials conducted in secret by revolutionary courts, the actual number of executions may be significantly higher.
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