Iran Executes Man for Leaking Missile Data to Mossad — SkimNews
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- Hossein Pedaran was executed on Saturday (September 19, 2026) after Iran's Supreme Court upheld his death sentence for providing Mossad with information on missile sites in Isfahan province, in central Iran.
- Iran's judiciary did not disclose when Pedaran was arrested or put on trial, and the case had not previously been reported by the media.
- Isfahan Province, which hosts Iranian nuclear sites, has been one of the hardest-hit provinces during the West Asia war that began in February 2026.
- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, was killed at the start of the war in February 2026, according to the report.
- In August 2026, Iran's judiciary executed two other men accused of transmitting coordinates of sensitive military and security sites to Israel.
- Iran carries out the second-highest number of executions globally, behind only China, according to rights groups cited in the report.
Why it matters: This is Iran's third execution for alleged espionage for Israel since August, and Pedaran's arrest and trial were never publicly disclosed — unusual even by Iranian standards. The target province, Isfahan, hosts nuclear sites and has been heavily bombed since the war began in February 2026, suggesting Tehran is using secret capital proceedings to address wartime intelligence leaks it cannot publicly acknowledge.
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