Iran Hangs Man for Leaking Missile Data to Israel

Iran’s judiciary announced on Saturday that it had executed Hossein Pedaran, a man convicted of passing sensitive information about missile sites in Isfahan province to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.

According to the judiciary-linked Mizan news agency, Pedaran was hanged after Iran’s Supreme Court upheld his death sentence on charges of espionage and intelligence collaboration with Israel. Authorities said he provided details on sensitive military and missile sites in the central province for financial gain.

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The case had not previously been reported in the media, and officials did not disclose when he was arrested or tried.

Iranian reports claimed Pedaran first approached the CIA online seeking cooperation but received no reply. He then contacted Mossad, which responded via WhatsApp from a Dutch number. After verifying his identity, handlers allegedly trained him on reporting methods and encrypted communications. He is said to have supplied coordinates and other details about military facilities, along with personal information on personnel — including positions, contact details, lifestyles, and family information. Payments in euros were reportedly received on multiple occasions.

A search of his home allegedly uncovered a notebook with “highly confidential” missile-related data, encrypted storage devices, and a remote-control device capable of secretly photographing and filming. Iranian authorities asserted that technical analysis of his communications showed some of the sites he identified were later struck during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025, resulting in deaths and injuries among personnel.

Isfahan province, home to major nuclear and military facilities, has been among the hardest-hit areas in the wider Middle East conflict that intensified earlier this year. Numerous missile sites across Iran have been targeted, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed at the outset of the fighting.

This latest execution forms part of a broader pattern. In August, the judiciary announced the hanging of two other men accused of transmitting coordinates of sensitive military and security sites to Israel. Iranian authorities have intensified arrests and executions linked both to the ongoing regional war and to nationwide protests that peaked in January. Iran ranks second only to China in the number of executions carried out annually, according to rights groups.

The announcement comes amid continued regional tensions and reports of heightened domestic security measures in Iran.