New York: Iran has executed one of its nuclear scientists over allegations that he was a spy for Israel and had facilitated Israel’s assassination of another nuclear scientist during the two countries’ war in June, according to the judiciary’s news outlet, Mizan.
Roozbeh Vadi was reportedly hanged after transferring “classified information” to Israel.
The judiciary said the scientist, Roozbeh Vadi, had worked at one of Iran’s most sensitive and important nuclear sites and had access to the type of classified information sought by the country’s enemies.
Vadi was executed by hanging on Wednesday after he was found guilty of espionage and providing information to Israel, the judiciary said.
The execution follows a 12-day war with Israel and the United States in June, when Israel assassinated at least 30 Iranian senior military commanders and 11 nuclear scientists.
Iranian officials have publicly acknowledged that Israel’s widespread infiltration of its security and intelligence apparatuses enabled Israel to eliminate key parts of Iran’s military chain of command in the war’s first night and helped it launch drone attacks from inside Iran.
While the two countries have been locked in a long-running shadow war, the apparent accuracy of Israel’s information and its launching of attacks inside the country have rattled Iranian officials.
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Since the war ended, authorities have swept up hundreds of people, including activists and dissidents, on suspicion of spying and threatening national security, Iranian media reports and rights groups say.
But the arrest and execution of a nuclear scientist is rare in a nation that takes great pride in its domestic nuclear program, with scientists hailed as national heroes. It is also an embarrassing admission of the possible extent to which Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, has infiltrated Iran.
