Iran executes 'high-ranking spy' of Mossad

Tehran, May 1 (IANS) Iran has executed a "high-ranking spy" of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, the media reported.

The executed, identified as Mohsen Langarneshin, was convicted of providing field and technical support for Mossad's operations in Iran, including the assassination of Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, a member of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, in Tehran in May 2022, the Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary report said on Wednesday.

Langarneshin, who was hanged on Wednesday morning, provided Mossad with extensive "logistical, technical and operational support" for two years, starting in 2020, the judiciary said via its official news agency, Mizan.

It added that he was executed following the completion of the legal and judicial processes, Xinhua news agency reported.

One of the key accusations against Langarneshin was his involvement in the May 2022 killing of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) colonel, Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, who was shot dead by two motorcyclists on his way home in Tehran.

It listed some of the convict's "criminal actions" as providing logistical, technical and operational support for an attack on an industrial centre affiliated to the Iranian Defence Ministry in the central province of Isfahan, purchasing communications tools for Mossad agents, buying vehicles and equipping them with operational instruments, transferring money from Israeli officers to operational agents inside Iran, and renting safe houses in some Iranian provinces.

Mizan reported that Langarneshin bought a motorcycle to track Khodaei's movements, relayed the information to Mossad and was present during the killing.

Additionally, he was accused of supporting an attack on an industrial site in Isfahan, affiliated with Iran's Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics.

According to the report, Langarneshin had confessed to all the "crimes" he had been charged with.

Iran cited "extensive intelligence and technical evidence" linking Langarneshin to these operations, and said he "fully confessed" to his involvement.

Caught in a decades-long shadow war with Israel, Iran has executed numerous individuals over their alleged links to Mossad, particularly those accused of sabotage and assassination efforts aimed at undermining its nuclear programme.

In December 2023, three men and a woman were executed for their alleged links to Mossad.

Langarneshin's execution comes amid renewed US-Iran nuclear talks, which Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused Israel of attempting to derail.

A fourth round of Oman-mediated negotiations between Washington and Tehran is scheduled for Saturday in Rome, according to Tehran.

--IANS

int/khz