Iran executes two men, one for allegedly spying for Israel

Iran, which has repeatedly blamed foreign meddling for the spate of protests and complaints of election fraud there last year, executed a man for allegedly spying for Israel on Tuesday.

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Two Iranian men were executed today in Tehran's Evin Prison, one for allegedly spying for Israel and the other for belonging to a group dedicated to the violent overthrow of the Islamic revolution.

According to the Iranian government news agency IRNA, Ali Akbar Siadat was found guilty of working for Mossad, Israel’s secret intelligence service.

Mr. Siadat had established relations with Mossad starting in 2005, and was arrested in 2008 while trying to flee Iran along with his wife, according to IRNA.

“Siadat had been commissioned to dispatch the top secret, classified information of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Tel Aviv for 60 thousand US dollars,” said an IRNA report released today.

The Iranian government's English language news network Press TV said that before Siadat was executed he confessed to relaying information on Iranian military bases to “enemies.” He also admitted to having “links with foreigners while trying to conduct trade activities before establishing contacts with one Israeli embassy overseas.”

Siyadat had admitted to meeting Israeli intelligence agents in public places such as hotels in Turkey, Thailand and the Netherlands.

He also acknowledged receiving 3,000 to 7,000 [US] dollars for submitting information about the number of Iranian operational planes, daily training and operational flights from different bases, the number of air accidents and their causes, as well as system information on different aircraft and missiles belonging to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, said the Press TV story

On December 26, Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi had announced that an alleged spy for Israel would be executed. “This person who worked as a spy for Israel has been sentenced to death. The sentence will be carried out after judicial and executive processes,” Press TV reported.

Ali Saremi was executed along with Siadat today. Mr. Saremi was accused of being a member of the Mujahideen-e Khalq (MKO), a militant group committed to overthrowing the Iranian government.

It is not uncommon for Iranian authorities to accuse Israel of scheming against Iran and carrying out hostile actions against the country, including espionage against the armed forces and nuclear program, the BBC reports.

In October, Iranian security arrested seven individuals, accused of collaborating with Israeli intelligence services with the country, according to Press TV. And in 2008, Iran executed Ali Ashtari, another Iranian citizen convicted of espionage and accused of sending information to Mossad on his country's nuclear program.

Israel and Iran have been enemies since the Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979, however rising tensions between the two countries have increased hostilities in recent years.

Israel has not released an official comment on Siadat’s execution, reports the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.