Iranian authorities on Wednesday hanged a man convicted of spying for Israel and another man in a case linked to January protests, the latest in a spate of executions against the backdrop of the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.
The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan Online website described Ehsan Afreshteh, 32, as “a spy trained by Mossad in Nepal who sold sensitive information to Israel” and said he had been executed.
It later announced in a separate statement that Mohammad Abbasi, who had been sentenced to death over the killing of a police officer during the January protests, had also been hanged.
The Norway-based Hengaw and Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGOs said in separate statements that Afreshteh had denied he shared top secret documents with Israeli intelligence and said he had been subjected to televised “forced confessions” obtained through torture.
A specialist in cybersecurity, Afreshteh had insisted that all he had done was to “warn independent websites about cyberattacks”, Hengaw said.
The rights groups said he had been living in Turkey but had received assurances from Iranian authorities that he could return home safely.
He was arrested on arrival, held in solitary confinement and in June 2025 sentenced to death by judge Abolqasem Salavati, who is notorious for handing out such verdicts.
His father, who had helped coordinate his return to Iran with the safety guarantees, suffered a fatal heart attack after hearing of the verdict, both IHR and Hengaw said.
Afreshteh is the sixth man to be hanged by Iran on charges of spying for Israel since the war began, according to IHR.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency rights group, meanwhile, said that Abbasi had been executed Wednesday morning in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj outside Tehran after his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.
It described Abbasi, 55, as a “protester” while Mizan said Abbasi was among a group of “rioters” who then pursued the police officer and killed him with a cold weapon.
Authorities have now since the the start of the war executed 26 men seen as “political prisoners” rights groups — 14 men charged over January protests, one more over 2022 demonstrations and 11 accused of links to banned opposition groups.
“These executions are intended to create fear among the Iranian people,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam, adding that Afreshteh had been sentenced to death “on false espionage charges, based on coerced confessions”.
Authorities on Monday hanged Erfan Shakourzadeh, 29, a post-graduate student from an elite Tehran university, on charges of espionage for Israel and the United States that he denied.
Iran is the world’s most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups.
Last year it hanged at least 1,639 people, according to figures from IHR, which has recorded at least 194 executions so far in 2026.
The January protests were met with a crackdown in which thousands were killed by security forces, according to activists.
Iranian authorities on Wednesday hanged a man convicted of spying for Israel and another man in a case linked to January protests, the latest in a spate of executions against the backdrop of the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.
The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan Online website described Ehsan Afreshteh, 32, as “a spy trained by Mossad in Nepal who sold sensitive information to Israel” and said he had been executed.
It later announced in a separate statement that Mohammad Abbasi, who had been sentenced to death over the killing of a police officer during the January protests, had also been hanged.
The Norway-based Hengaw and Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGOs said in separate statements that Afreshteh had denied he shared top secret documents with Israeli intelligence and said he had been subjected to televised “forced confessions” obtained through torture.
A specialist in cybersecurity, Afreshteh had insisted that all he had done was to “warn independent websites about cyberattacks”, Hengaw said.
The rights groups said he had been living in Turkey but had received assurances from Iranian authorities that he could return home safely.
He was arrested on arrival, held in solitary confinement and in June 2025 sentenced to death by judge Abolqasem Salavati, who is notorious for handing out such verdicts.
His father, who had helped coordinate his return to Iran with the safety guarantees, suffered a fatal heart attack after hearing of the verdict, both IHR and Hengaw said.
Afreshteh is the sixth man to be hanged by Iran on charges of spying for Israel since the war began, according to IHR.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency rights group, meanwhile, said that Abbasi had been executed Wednesday morning in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj outside Tehran after his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.
It described Abbasi, 55, as a “protester” while Mizan said Abbasi was among a group of “rioters” who then pursued the police officer and killed him with a cold weapon.
Authorities have now since the the start of the war executed 26 men seen as “political prisoners” rights groups — 14 men charged over January protests, one more over 2022 demonstrations and 11 accused of links to banned opposition groups.
“These executions are intended to create fear among the Iranian people,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam, adding that Afreshteh had been sentenced to death “on false espionage charges, based on coerced confessions”.
Authorities on Monday hanged Erfan Shakourzadeh, 29, a post-graduate student from an elite Tehran university, on charges of espionage for Israel and the United States that he denied.
Iran is the world’s most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups.
Last year it hanged at least 1,639 people, according to figures from IHR, which has recorded at least 194 executions so far in 2026.
The January protests were met with a crackdown in which thousands were killed by security forces, according to activists.
