Iran Executes Former Defence Ministry Staffer Convicted of Spying on Behalf of CIA

Iran has executed a former employee of the defence minister who was convicted of spying on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency, the country's judiciary said Tuesday. It was the second such execution in the past month.

The report said Reza Asgari was executed last week. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said Asgari had worked in the airspace department of the ministry and retired in 2016.

“In the last years of his service, he joined the CIA, he sold information about our missiles ... to the CIA and took money from them," Esmaili said. “He was identified, tried and sentenced to death.”

Occasionally



Iran announces arrests and convictions of alleged spies for foreign countries, including the U.S. and Israel.

In June, Iran said another supposed government agent, Jalal Hajizavar, was hanged in jail close to Tehran. The report said Hajizavar — additionally a previous staff member of the barrier service — had conceded in court that he was paid to spy for the CIA. The report said specialists had likewise seized surveillance gear from his home. It said the court condemned Hajizavar's better half to 15 years in jail for her job in the undercover work.

Before that, in 2016, Iran executed a nuclear scientist convicted of spying for the United States.