Tehran, Iran — A 36-year-old man has been executed in Iran after being convicted of aiding Israel’s Mossad in the killing of a senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) last year. Mohsen Langarneshin was hanged early Wednesday at Ghezel Hesar prison, according to state media.
Langarneshin’s family and numerous human rights advocates have vociferously defended his innocence, alleging that any confessions he offered were coerced through torture. Just a day before the execution, his mother made a heartfelt plea on social media, fearing the imminent loss of her son. “Please pray for my child … I do not know if he will see the sunrise tomorrow,” she wrote, lamenting the court’s disregard for evidence that allegedly supports his innocence.
State-run news agency IRNA reported that Langarneshin was labeled a “senior spy” for Mossad who provided crucial technical assistance during the assassination of Colonel Hassan Sayyad Khodaei. Khodaei was shot multiple times outside his home in Tehran by gunmen on motorcycles. The IRNA account claimed that Langarneshin had been recruited by Mossad in 2020 and had met Israeli intelligence operatives in various countries, including Georgia and Nepal, before his arrest in July.
Human rights activists are increasingly concerned that Iran is attributing blame to innocent individuals as a means of deflecting attention from its inability to capture actual foreign agents, many of whom have managed to flee the country. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the head of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights monitor, criticized the judicial process that led to Langarneshin’s execution, branding it as fundamentally flawed and characterized by forced confessions. “The execution machine in Iran is operating at an alarming rate, claiming more lives every day,” Amiry-Moghaddam remarked, describing such actions as extrajudicial killings.
In 2024, at least 335 executions have occurred in Iran, highlighted by activists as part of a broader pattern of capital punishment that has persisted over the years. Just last year, over 900 executions took place, reflecting a troubling trend in state-sanctioned violence. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, which advocated for Langarneshin, pointed out that he was convicted by a revolutionary court led by a judge known for delivering harsh sentences and has faced international sanctions for his rulings.
Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, revolutionary courts have operated with minimal transparency, often conducting trials in secret. Langarneshin consistently denied the accusations against him, emphasizing that his confessions emerged under duress.
Tensions between Israel and Iran have escalated over the years, with both countries involved in a covert war characterized by targeted assassinations and bombings. Israel has been linked to the killings of several Iranian scientists connected to the nation’s nuclear ambitions. Recently, a dramatic attack by Israeli forces is believed to have resulted in the death of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh inside Tehran.
On the Israeli side, a 72-year-old man recently received a 10-year prison sentence for allegedly plotting with Iranian intelligence to assassinate high-profile officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As diplomatic overtures continue, the Iranian Foreign Minister stated that new negotiations with the United States on the nuclear program are expected in Rome, signaling ongoing complexities in U.S.-Iran relations amid a landscape of shifting allegiances and escalating tensions.