Iran executes former defence ministry official convicted of spying for CIA

In a sudden revelation, Iran said that it has executed a former defence ministry official convicted of selling information to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Judiciary spokesperson Gholamhossein Esmaili told reporters on July 14 that the execution of Reza Asgari took place last week, but didn’t mention the date of arrest, trial, and sentence.

The spokesperson said that the former Iranian official, after his retirement, had passed on information about country’s missile programme to the CIA. The announcement was made while responding to a question about another convicted spy, Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd. 

“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.”

Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd, another convicted spy, has been sentenced to death for providing intelligence to the CIA and Israel's Mossad intelligence agency. On June 9, Iran announced that it will execute him for spying on the country's Quds Force, whose general was killed in a drone strike by the United States in January. 

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Another execution awaits

Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd and a spokesperson for the judiciary said in a televised press conference that the execution will be carried out soon. Mousavi-Majd was allegedly paid large sums of money by Israel's Mossad and the CIA to report on General Qasem Soleimani's whereabouts. Soleimani’s killing led to heightened tension between Iran and the US and Tehran attacked American military bases in Iraq.

Mousavi-Majd has also been convicted for spying on Iran's armed forces. In December last year, Iran said that it arrested eight people linked to the CIA and the protests that had taken place a month before in the country over rising oil prices. The Iranian government had clamped down on protesters killing hundreds and injuring thousands.

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(With AP inputs | Image: AP)