Iran executed Erfan Shakourzadeh, a 29-year-old aerospace engineering graduate student, at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on Monday on charges of passing classified satellite program data to the CIA and Israel’s Mossad, the judiciary’s Mizan Online confirmed.
Execution of 29-Year-Old Student After Months in Solitary Confinement and Forced Confessions
Erfan Shakourzadeh, a 29-year-old aerospace engineering student, was executed this morning in Ghezel Hesar Prison after being transferred there in recent days for the implementation of… pic.twitter.com/Oj9jhk7eLp
— Rojhelat Info (@RojhelatInfo_En) May 11, 2026
Mizan identified Shakourzadeh as having worked at a scientific organization involved in satellite activities and said he shared information covering his “workplace, access level, duties, and other sensitive information” with foreign intelligence services. He is the fifth person executed on espionage charges since Iran’s war with the United States and Israel began in late February, according to Iran Human Rights (IHR).
Iran executed political prisoner Erfan Shakourzadeh after convicting him of cooperating with US intelligence and Israel’s Mossad, the judiciary-linked Mizan news agency reported on Monday, as rights groups warn of a sharp rise in executions tied to political charges.… pic.twitter.com/9Gj3Eo0ia0
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) May 11, 2026
In a note published before his execution by the Norway-based rights group Hengaw, Shakourzadeh rejected the accusations. “I was arrested on fabricated espionage charges and, after eight and a half months of torture and solitary confinement, was forced into a false confession,” he wrote. “Do not let another innocent life be taken in silence.”
Iran has long faced Western accusations that its satellite launch program serves as a cover for advancing ballistic missile capabilities. Former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) air defense chief Brig.-Gen. Ran Kochav told The Jerusalem Post in March that recent Iranian satellite-like launches appeared to mask a clandestine program that doubled Tehran’s demonstrated ballistic strike range to 2,485 miles.
Hengaw reported Shakourzadeh was arrested in February 2025 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and covertly transferred from Tehran’s Evin Prison to Ghezel Hesar on May 7, under the pretext of a meeting with judicial officers. IHR described him as an “elite student” who completed a degree in electrical engineering at the University of Tabriz before pursuing a master’s in aerospace engineering at Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST).
IHR recorded at least 190 executions in 2026. Mizan said Shakourzadeh’s “confessions” would be broadcast on state television Monday evening.
