Execution of Babak Shahbazi: Allegations of Espionage, Torture, and Political Repression
Today, September 17, 2025 the Islamic Republic of Iran executed Babak Shahbazi, a contractor arrested in January 2024 on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
Today, September 17, 2025 the Islamic Republic of Iran executed Babak Shahbazi, a contractor arrested in January 2024 on charges of “espionage for Israel.” His execution took place at Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj after a Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death in May 2025, and the Supreme Court upheld the verdict in July 2025. Rights groups, family members, and civil activists now highlight grave concerns about due process, coerced confessions, and the political motivations behind his case.
Shahbazi, described by his family as a technician specializing in industrial cooling systems, was arrested in January 2024. According to Iran’s judiciary, he had allegedly used his professional access in sensitive facilities to pass information to Israel’s Mossad. Authorities further claimed that he recruited Esmail Fekri as a collaborator; Fekri was executed earlier this year on similar charges. However, Iran Human Rights (IHR) and other monitors reject these accounts, arguing that Shahbazi’s arrest was linked not to espionage but to his social media outreach, including a letter he wrote to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, offering to help Ukrainians in their war against Russia. Human rights organizations say this letter became the pretext for his arrest, and that Shahbazi spent nine months in solitary confinement in Evin Prison and secret detention facilities, where he was pressured under torture to confess.
His trial drew sharp criticism for legal irregularities. His lawyer, Miladi Panahi Pour, revealed that in less than four months, five separate rulings were issued against Shahbazi, many of them inconsistent. He argued that the espionage charges were incompatible with Shahbazi’s real occupation as a cooling technician. Despite appeals and requests for retrial, the judiciary pressed ahead, and his sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court in July 2025. Civil activist Mehdi Mahmoudian, who had shared a cell with Shahbazi, called the ruling part of a “systematic program to destroy hope” in Iranian society.
Shahbazi’s execution took place at dawn on September 17, 2025. Family members reported he was moved to solitary confinement the night before, a common signal that executions are imminent. His brother, Keyhan Shahbazi, posted an emotional message online after the execution, linking his death to those of Mahsa Amini, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Kian Pirfalak, and other victims of repression: “We join the families of Amini, Najafi, Pirfalak, and thousands of our compatriots killed by these traitors and criminals.” Yesterday marked the three years since Amini’s killing at the hands of Iranian authorities, sparking the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement. Another relative insisted Shahbazi had never confessed to spying, reinforcing the family’s claim that his case was fabricated to serve political purposes.
The execution came against the backdrop of heightened regional tensions following the 12-day war between Israel and Iran earlier this year. In that conflict’s aftermath, Iran executed several prisoners accused of spying for Israel. According to Iran Human Rights, Iran has executed over 940 people so far this year, one of the highest rates in the world. The organization highlights that “national security” and “espionage” charges are often applied selectively against dissidents or ordinary workers caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Rights groups stress three main violations: lack of fair trial, with Shahbazi’s rushed and inconsistent proceedings; coerced confessions, given the reports of torture and extended solitary confinement; and the instrumentalization of justice, where espionage charges are deployed as a political tool. The execution also underscores the gap between state narratives and independent accounts. While authorities painted Shahbazi as a Mossad asset, rights defenders describe him as a technician, protest sympathizer, and victim of political scapegoating. As Iran faces economic, social, and regional crises, executions like Shahbazi’s are likely to deepen mistrust between state and society.