A photo of Mohsen Langarneshin, an alleged Mossad spy, from his Facebook page in April 2023. Facebook

Iran hanged a man on Wednesday who was convicted of working as a spy for Israel's foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, and assisting in the 2022 assassination of a Revolutionary Guard colonel in Tehran, according to the Islamic republic's official IRNA news agency. An activist group

Mohsen Langarneshin, identified by the news agency as one of the Mossad's "top spies inside Iran," allegedly provided "technical support" in the killing of Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, who was shot five times by two unidentified gunmen on a motorbike — said to have been purchased by Langarneshin — near his home in Tehran.

At the time of his killing, Iranian media identified Khodaei only as a "defender of the shrine," according to The Associated Press. The term is a euphemism used by Iran to refer to Iranians fighting against ISIS in Syria and Iraq within the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force.

IRNA said Langarneshin had also provided support for an attack on an industrial center linked to the Iranian defense ministry, purchased vehicles and equipment "to create a secure environment for Mossad elements in Iran," transferred money from Mossad officers to contacts inside the country and rented safe houses in several Iranian provinces. One of those homes was in Isfahan, where, in January 2023, bomb-carrying drones targeted what Iran described as a military workshop. Iran has accused Israel of masterminding the attack.

Langarneshin was recruited by the Mossad in 2020 and worked for the Israelis for two years, according to Iran's state-run media, during which time he met with Mossad officers in the nation of Georgia and Nepal, "and received his missions."

IRNA said Langerneshin confessed "during all stages of the interrogation, prosecution and court proceedings," after being "confronted with extensive case documents."

The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a non-profit group focused on rights issues in Iran, said Wednesday that a source close to Langerneshin's family had recently told the organization that he "had been promised that if he repeated what the interrogators wanted on camera, he would only face imprisonment. As a result, the confessions were extracted under pressure and coercion."

The organization quoted another source whom it said was close to Langarneshin as saying that he "was taken to the specified location and forced to narrate a prewritten script by interrogators, which was filmed."

Masoud Langarneshin, Mohsen's father, released a video in the days before the execution claiming his son had been sentenced to death without a fair trial. His mother, who issued a public appeal for help to human rights organizations, had her last visit with Mohsen at the Ghezel Hesar prison on Karaj, west of Tehran, on April 29.

Iran's Revolutionary Court, which sentenced Langarneshin to death, was established in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is known for its brutal punishments of political opponents of the country's clerical rulers. The court usually provides a court-appointed lawyer and doesn't allow any press access.

"After going through legal procedures at various stages of the case, Langarneshin was sentenced to death, and his sentence was carried out this morning," IRNA reported Wednesday.

Source