Iranian judiciary executes prominent nuclear scientist Rouzbeh Vadi on charges of spying for Israel
Vadi, who held a doctorate in reactor engineering, and co‑authored a 2011 research paper with senior Iranian nuclear experts, Abdolhamid Minouhchehr and Ahmad Zolfaghari, who died during the Iran-Israel war.
Vadi, however was killed in a state-sponsored execution back in June, with the judiciary alleging that he was handling sensitive data to Israel's intelligence agency Mossad.
Iranian officials claim he was recruited online, vetted by a Mossad officer using the alias Alex, and later assigned to a handler known as Kevin.
After his evaluation, Mossad allegedly determined that Vadi's workplace and level of access made him a high‑value source, according to the judiciary.
He was then introduced to 'one of Mossad's top divisions.' At his request, payments were made monthly via a cryptocurrency wallet rather than a reward‑per‑mission system.
The scientist was later instructed to buy items to establish secure communication and given technical training to gather, and transmit classified-sensitive state secrets.
Iran would 'deal decisively and legally with spies,' referring to ongoing investigations following the June conflict with Israel, Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Tuesday during a visit to North Khorasan Province.
Ejei recently said that more than 2,000 people had been arrested during and after the 12-day war, some of whom face the death penalty on charges of 'organizational collaboration with the enemy.'
There has been a mas surge in arrests and state-authorised killings of various people, alleged to be working for Israel, the US, or third-party group seeking to damage Iran's nuclear program.
Iran's intelligence services said they placed Vadi under surveillance after one of his trips to Vienna. He was eventually arrested in Tehran, and prosecutors charged him with 'espionage and intelligence cooperation with the Zionist regime in exchange for a specified payment,' awarding him the death sentence, which was carried out by the Supreme Court on Aug 5, 2025.
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