Rights groups said Erfan Shakourzadeh denied the espionage charges and alleged torture before his death.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran executed Erfan Shakourzadeh on Monday after convicting the 29-year-old aerospace engineering graduate of spying for the CIA and Israel’s Mossad, the country’s judiciary said.
The execution added to a growing list of security-related death sentences carried out by Iran during a period of sharp tension with the United States and Israel. Iranian officials described Shakourzadeh as a willing intelligence contact who passed sensitive scientific information to foreign services. Human rights groups said he was held in solitary confinement, tortured and forced to confess.
Iran’s judiciary-linked Mizan news agency announced the execution May 11, identifying Shakourzadeh as the son of Jafar Shakourzadeh and saying he had worked with a scientific organization active in satellite projects. Mizan said he used his specialty to enter the organization and then made contact with foreign intelligence services. The judiciary said he communicated with Mossad in two stages and with the CIA in another stage. It said he provided details about his workplace, access level, duties and satellite-related projects. The report said the sentence was carried out at dawn after legal procedures were completed and Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence.
State-linked accounts of the case said Shakourzadeh knowingly and willingly shared classified scientific information and accepted cryptocurrency as payment. The judiciary said investigators found emails, chat records, WhatsApp contacts, Google communications and files on his electronic devices. It also said he sought help from the CIA for money, a U.S. passport and a chance to study in the United States. Mizan said the case was heard with a lawyer present and that judges reviewed technical records, messages and alleged admissions before sentencing him to death. The agency did not provide public access to the full case file, and it was not possible to independently verify the evidence described by authorities.
Rights groups gave a sharply different account. Iran Human Rights and Hengaw said Shakourzadeh was arrested in February 2025 and later transferred from Evin prison in Tehran to Ghezel Hesar Prison outside the capital before the execution. Hengaw described him as a graduate in electrical engineering from the University of Tabriz and a top-ranked master’s student in aerospace engineering at Iran University of Science and Technology. The groups said he spent months in solitary confinement and faced severe physical and psychological pressure. In a message published before his execution, Shakourzadeh rejected the accusations as fabricated and said he had been forced into false confessions because of torture.
The case drew attention because of Shakourzadeh’s academic background and the security field at the center of the allegations. Iran’s satellite and aerospace work has long been tied to its national security programs. Western governments have said some parts of Iran’s space program could support ballistic missile development, while Tehran has said its space activities are peaceful and scientific. The judiciary’s account placed Shakourzadeh inside that sensitive world, saying he had access to information about satellite projects and personnel. Rights groups said his background made him vulnerable to a broader campaign of espionage accusations against educated professionals, political detainees and people accused of links to foreign powers.
Iran has used espionage and national security charges in several recent execution cases, especially in cases involving alleged cooperation with Israel. In April, Iranian authorities executed two men accused of being part of a Mossad-linked network. In other cases, courts have sentenced people to death on charges that include spying, corruption on Earth or waging war against God. Human rights monitors have said many such cases are decided in closed or opaque proceedings, sometimes after broadcast confessions. Iranian officials reject those claims and say courts act under national security laws to punish people who help hostile governments. Shakourzadeh’s case followed that pattern, with authorities presenting the execution as a lawful penalty and rights groups calling it an abuse of the justice system.
The execution also came as Iran faced heavy scrutiny over its use of capital punishment. Rights groups say Iran is one of the world’s leading executioners after China, with hundreds of people put to death each year. They say executions have increased during periods of protest, unrest and international conflict. The groups tracking Shakourzadeh’s case said he was at least the fifth person executed on espionage charges since conflict with the United States and Israel intensified earlier this year. They also reported executions tied to January protests and to opposition groups. Iranian authorities have not accepted those figures as a measure of political repression and say the death penalty is applied through the courts.
Details about Shakourzadeh’s final days remained contested. Hengaw said he was suddenly moved from Evin prison to Ghezel Hesar in early May, a step often viewed by families and activists as a warning that an execution may be near. Rights groups said his family and supporters had raised alarms before the sentence was carried out. Mizan said the execution took place only after the Supreme Court reviewed and affirmed the ruling. It also said state television would air confessions connected to the case, a practice rights groups often criticize because they say such broadcasts may follow coercive interrogations. Iranian officials have said televised material in security cases can show evidence of foreign plots.
No public response from the CIA or Mossad was immediately reported. The United States and Israel generally do not comment on individual espionage allegations made by Iran. Iran often says foreign intelligence agencies recruit Iranians to collect information, damage infrastructure or assist attacks inside the country. Israel has accused Iran of funding armed groups and pursuing military programs that threaten Israeli security. The United States has accused Iran of destabilizing the region and expanding missile and nuclear work. Against that backdrop, espionage cases inside Iran carry political weight beyond the courtroom, especially when the accused person worked in a technical or scientific field.
Shakourzadeh’s execution closed the criminal case in Iran’s courts, but it left unresolved disputes over his detention, interrogation and trial. Rights groups said they would continue documenting the case as part of a wider record of executions in Iran. Iranian judiciary media said the sentence had been completed after all required legal steps.
Author note: Last updated Tuesday, May 12, 2026.