Iran said it has executed Pedram Madani, who was accused of "spying for Israel" in a case human rights groups said was filled with "fundamental flaws" and based on confessions made under duress.
The country's judiciary news agency Mizan announced on May 28 that the execution was carried out for offenses including "spying for Israel" and "acquiring wealth through illegitimate means."
The Iranian Human Rights Organization reported on May 25 that Madani was at "imminent risk" of being executed after he was transferred from Evin prison to Ghezelhesar prison in Karaj, where his family was summoned for what is believed to have been a final visit.
Pedram was arrested for allegedly spying for Israel in 2020.
He was sentenced to death for charges of "corruption on Earth" by the Revolutionary Court. That sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court three times, each of which a court of equal standing resentenced him to death.
Imprisoned Iranian dissident Narges Mohammadi, winner of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, posted a video of Madani's mother pleading to Iranian authorities not to "let another family suffer."
She also asks for a case "full of ambiguities and serious flaws to be reviewed again."
"Let it be revived so he can live," she said.
News of Madani's execution comes a day after Human Rights Watch issued a report saying Iranian authorities are carrying out a "horrific execution spree," with at least 113 executions reported in the first 25 days of May 2025 alone.
The Oslo-based group said 478 people have been executed by Iran so far this year, a 75 percent jump from the same period a year earlier.
"Iran's authorities have executed at least three people a day on average during the first five months of 2025, with more dissidents and marginalized communities falling victim to the government's vicious repression of dissent and brutal anti-drug policy," said Federico Borello, interim executive director of Human Rights Watch.
"The killing spree shows no signs of slowing down and the scale of the crisis underscores an urgent need for the international community to press the Iranian government to immediately halt all executions and establish a death penalty moratorium."
