Adversary Intelligence — 2026-06-28

Iran Sentences Orchardist Ehsan Khodadadi to Death for Alleged Mossad Espionage Based on Torture-Extracted Confessions

BLUFKhodadadi will likely be executed within 12 months of the June 15 verdict, as Tabriz security organs weaponize efsad-fil-arz charges to convert civil dissent into capital espionage cases.

The Tabriz Revolutionary Court sentenced Khodadadi to death on efsad-fil-arz charges for alleged Mossad coordination, the verdict served June 15 1. Civil activist Behzad Yavari told IranWire that Khodadadi was summoned to the Malekan police station June 6, 2024 under pretext of a complaint, with no espionage allegation raised until Israel struck Tabriz Airbase days later, after which interrogators cited his prior mandatory service at that base as grounds 2. Yavari and former cellmates reported injuries including cigarette burns, blackened fingernails, loosened teeth, and kidney infections; interrogators then held Khodadadi in solitary for three months specifically so bruising could fade before family visits were permitted 2. IranWire reports no specific evidence has been publicly released supporting the espionage charge 1.

Analysis
Structural indicators of fabrication are substantial: the espionage allegation surfaced only after Israel struck Tabriz Airbase, charges involving military coordinates prompted no home search, and the charge timeline tracked a geopolitical event rather than any investigative trigger. The Tabriz apparatus is using efsad-fil-arz to suppress civil dissent under a counterintelligence pretext. Khodadadi will likely be executed within 12 months of the June 15 verdict. Moderate confidence reflects single-source reporting on case disposition and no direct visibility into the appeals timeline. Classified intelligence supporting the Mossad charge may exist but was withheld to protect sources and methods. Human rights organizations and foreign embassies raising the case formally do so on a closing timeline: diplomatic leverage will not survive the close of the appeals process.

3 sources