Adversary Intelligence — 2026-08-05

Iran Executes Omid Behzad and Pourya Safvat for Alleged Espionage for Israel as Wartime Execution Toll Reaches Fourteen

BLUFIran's wartime espionage purge will very likely produce additional executions by late September, as fast-track legal frameworks now attach capital liability to routine phone and camera use.

Iran's judiciary hanged Omid Behzad and Pourya Safvat in the early hours of August 3 on charges of "espionage and intelligence cooperation with the Zionist regime," with the death sentences affirmed by the Supreme Court, according to Mizan, relayed by RFE/RL and HRANA 12. Mizan alleged Behzad used navigation apps like Google Maps to mark military coordinates during the 40-Day War and sent them to a Mossad officer via Telegram, and that Safvat filmed air-defense systems during the 12-Day War and passed coordinates and footage to Mossad and Iran International, with several identified sites subsequently bombed 13. State media aired a video of the men's confessions before the executions; the circumstances under which the confessions were obtained remain undisclosed 23. Iran Human Rights counts at least fourteen people executed on espionage charges in 2026, twelve for alleged work with Israel or the US, while RFE/RL cites rights groups' estimate of over 50 executions on security and political charges since the February 28 war's start 13.

Analysis
Tehran's judiciary will very likely execute at least one additional individual on espionage-related charges by September 30, extending a wartime purge that has already produced fourteen espionage hangings and more than fifty security-related executions since the February war began. The March directive fast-tracking foreign-collaboration cases and the newly enacted espionage-cooperation law, which mandates capital sentences for transmitting information or footage to foreign entities, strip judiciary officials of discretion to slow the pace. Low confidence reflects reliance on rights-group tallies and judiciary self-reporting rather than independent access to arrest records or case files. Continued executions will further chill ordinary phone and app use, as location-marking and rooftop photography now carry capital exposure for anyone the state links to foreign media or intelligence contacts.

4 sources

Iran Hangs Two It Claims 'Spied' For Israel As Execution Surge Continues - RFE/RL
Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat Executed on Alleged Espionage Charges - HRANA
Omid Behzad and Pourya Safvat Executed for Alleged Espionage for Israel - ShabtabNews
2 important Zionist agents in the 12-day and 40-day wars paid for their actions: Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat hanged for sending coordinates of sensitive military and security sites to Mossad officers - Mizan Online (Iran judiciary news agency)