DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Wednesday it executed a man it alleges spied for Israel, something disputed by activists who say he was tortured into a false confession after writing a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offering to fight for Kyiv.
The execution comes as activists warn Iran could execute more prisoners on death row after its 12-day war with Israel and as it tries to stamp out dissent over its ailing economy and over women’s rights, particularly after marking the third anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini this week.
Amini died in police custody in 2022 after being detained for allegedly not wearing her mandatory hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities, sparking months of demonstrations and a violent crackdown by security forces.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency identified the executed man as Babak Shahbazi, who it claimed had gathered and sold sensitive information about Iranian data centers and security installations to Israeli handlers. It described him as working on “industrial cooling devices” as a contractor for companies that worked on telecommunications, military and security sites.
The judiciary claimed Shahbazi then sold information to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.
Activists, including the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights, had said Shahbazi was detained over writing a letter to Zelenskyy offering to fight in the Ukrainian military. Iran has supplied Russia with drones that Moscow has used to attack...
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