Iran executed Erfan Shakourzadeh on Monday after convicting the 29-year-old aerospace engineering student of spying for the CIA and Mossad, judiciary-linked Mizan News Agency reported.
Mizan said Shakourzadeh had worked at a scientific organisation involved in satellite activities and shared classified scientific information with foreign intelligence services.
The state-linked outlet alleged he contacted foreign intelligence services in three stages, including two linked to Israel’s Mossad and one linked to the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency. The report did not publish evidence supporting the allegations.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organisation arrested Shakourzadeh in February 2025 over accusations of “espionage and cooperation with hostile countries.”
Rights groups said Shakourzadeh spent about nine months in solitary confinement before authorities transferred him to Evin Prison. They alleged interrogators obtained his confession through torture and physical pressure.
Shakourzadeh was a master’s student in aerospace engineering and satellite technology at Iran University of Science and Technology, where he had ranked first in his program.
The same accounts said authorities transferred him to Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on May 7 and carried out the execution on May 11.
Rights advocates said his case came amid a sharp rise in executions in Iran during 2025 and 2026, including cases involving espionage allegations during heightened regional tensions.
