Rouzbeh Vadi and Mehdi Asgharzadeh Executed for Espionage and “ISIS Collaboration”
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 6, 2025: State media reported the executions of Rouzbeh Vadi and Mehdi Asgharzadeh for “espionage for Israel” and “ISIS collaboration” respectively.
Yesterday, IHRNGO drew attention to the list of 67 death row protesters, prisoners of conscience, espionage and blasphemy defendants which included Rouzbeh Vadi.
IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam had stated: “Under the cover of wartime conditions, the Islamic Republic seeks to carry out the execution of political prisoners at a lower political cost. The threat of these executions is serious, and only by increasing the political cost through popular protests and international pressure can they be prevented.” He added: “These sentences have been issued without fair trials and based on confessions obtained under torture, and in addition to violating international laws, they also violate even the laws of the Islamic Republic itself.”
According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency, Rouzbeh Vadi and Mehdi Asgharzadeh were hanged at an undisclosed location on 6 August 2025. The two men appear to have been executed in Ghezelhesar Prison.
Rouzbeh Vadi who was around 40 years old, was arrested 18 months ago and sentenced to death for “espionage for Israel” by the Revolutionary Court. Rouzbeh was working as a nuclear expert at the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran at the time of his arrest.
Mehdi Asgharzadeh was a 35-year-old man from Javanroud in Kermanshah province. He was sentenced to death on charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) through extensive activity in the terrorist and takfiri group ISIS and action against national security.
Hengaw human rights organisation previously reported Mehdi’s transfer from Kermanshah Central Prison to Ghezelhesar Prison. According to the report, Mehdi was arrested in Javaroud in 2016 after returning from Syria. He was held in solitary confinement in Tehran for two years before being transferred to Kermanshah Central Prison where he was held for the last eight years.
Photo: Rouzbeh Vadi
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