Iran's judiciary has announced the execution of a person it claims was a Mossad agent involved in an explosion at a Defense Ministry workshop complex in the city of Isfahan last year.
According to the Mizan News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran's judiciary, the execution took place on March 3. Four Kurds also accused of having a connection with the attack were executed in January. The Hengaw human rights group says none of the five was given a fair trial and their confessions were obtained through torture.
The person executed on March 3 was accused of being in contact with agents of Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency, since February 2019. It was alleged that, in 2022, the individual helped facilitate the smuggling of several drones into Iran by arranging the rental of a warehouse to store the aircraft and the purchase of vehicles to move them and people around. The attack occurred in January 2023.
The identity of the executed person has not been disclosed. However, Mizan, quoting the chief of the Isfahan judiciary, revealed that the individual fled the country under a false identity 13 days after the Isfahan attack. They were later apprehended by security forces in a “neighboring country,” although details of the arrest and the specific country where it occurred were not provided.
The Iranian Defense Ministry described the attack as unsuccessful, reporting no casualties and only minor damage to the facility's roof.
Though no one took responsibility for the attack, The Wall Street Journal quoted unidentified U.S. officials as saying Israel had carried out the strike.
In an article published by the newspaper in December, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett hinted at Israel's involvement in several operations inside Iran in 2022, including attacks on drone bases. Bennett cited the destruction of an Iranian drone base as a retaliatory measure for Iran's alleged attempts to launch drone attacks against Israel.
There has been a series of incidents inside Iran over the past year, including sabotage and cyberattacks, assassinations, and the mysterious killings of members of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), as well as scientists and engineers.
Tehran has blamed some of the incidents on Israel, its regional foe.
Israel says its standard policy is to not comment officially on such incidents.