Iran hangs man convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad
Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Iran announced Saturday it has executed a man convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.
The unnamed man was hanged at the Zahedan Central Prison in Iran's southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, official media reported.
Iran convicted the man of collecting classified information and passing it to to the Mossad using a series of middlemen.
Israel did not issue an immediate public comment on the case.
A final appeal to the Supreme Court of Iran was denied early Saturday and the sentence carried out the same day.
"This individual, while consciously engaging with foreign services, including Mossad, deliberately collected classified information and, with the cooperation of associates, provided documents to foreign services, especially Mossad," the state-run IRNA news agency said, quoting a statement issued by the Iranian military.
"After the accused objected to the verdict, the case was sent to the Supreme Court, and after re-examination, while rejecting the appeal, the Supreme Court confirmed and approved the verdict," Iran's Mizan News Agency reported.
"Also, with the defendant's request for amnesty, his case was sent to the Central Judicial Branch's amnesty order, and the meeting was rejected due to the fact that the conditions of the defendant's request were not met," it said.
The execution comes a day after 11 Iranian police officers were killed in a single attack in Sistan-Baluchistan province. The Jaish al-Adl militant group later claimed responsibility for the attack, as it continues to fight for greater rights for Baluch minorities in that part of Iran.
Baluchis are ethnic minority within the country and are mostly congregated in the country's Baluchestan region near the border with Pakistan. They have repeatedly been targeted by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during protests.
