Iran hangs two accused of spying for Israel as wartime executions ramp up

Iran on Monday executed two men convicted of spying for Israel, the judiciary said, the latest in a wave of hangings over alleged espionage.

Since the start of the war with Israel and the United States in February, Tehran has ramped up executions, with many of the convicts accused of spying for Israeli intelligence.

“Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat were hanged this morning for transmitting the coordinates of sensitive military and security sites to Mossad agents,” said Mizan, the media outlet for Iran’s judiciary, referring to Israel’s foreign intelligence service.

It did not specify when the pair were arrested or when they went on trial, but said they were convicted of “espionage and collaboration with the Zionist regime.”

“They helped the intelligence services achieve their objectives by providing them with information on military and security centers during the war,” Mizan added.

One of the executed individuals was accused of passing coordinates to the administrator of a Telegram channel that the IRGC charges was linked to Israel’s Mossad spy agency, according to Mizan.

Iran executed two political prisoners convicted of “spying and intelligence cooperation with Israel” early on Monday, the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported, extending a recent surge in executions tied to national security charges.

Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat, the… pic.twitter.com/ztWakBi43t

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) August 3, 2026

The second person, described by Mizan as “one of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s soldiers,” was said to have sent information to the Mossad as well as to Iran International, a leading news outlet for dissidents in exile that Tehran accuses of also being an intelligence front.

The number of executions in Iran has risen since the start of the war, which broke out on February 28 with massive US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader.

Iran is the world’s second-most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups including Amnesty International.

The authorities executed at least 1,639 people last year, a record high since 1989, according to Iran Human Rights, an NGO based in Norway, and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), which is headquartered in Paris.

Last Tuesday, Amnesty denounced what it said was the “escalation” in executions after Iran announced the hanging of two men found guilty of taking part in anti-government protests during the winter.

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