ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran executed one person on charges of espionage for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service in Sistan and Baluchestan province, state media reported on Saturday.
“This individual, while consciously engaging with foreign services, including Mossad, deliberately collected classified information and, with the cooperation of associates, provided documents to foreign services, especially Mossad,” Iranian state media IRNA reported.
The identity of the individual was not given and it is unclear when they were arrested.
IRNA said that the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the defendant and confirmed an “immediate execution” sentence.
The execution was carried out a day after 11 police officers were killed in an overnight attack in the southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province. A Baluch militant group Jaish al-Adl has claimed responsibility, according to Iranian media. The group says it is fighting for greater rights for Baluchis and has carried out numerous attacks on Iranian security forces.
Baluchis are a mainly Sunni ethnic minority in Iran, living predominantly in the impoverished Baluchestan region near the border with Pakistan. Many Baluchis took part in last year’s nationwide protests and the area was targeted in the violent crackdown by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which killed hundreds during demonstrations in Zahedan and Khash.
