Iran has executed Erfan Shakourzadeh, a 29-year-old aerospace engineer described as one of the country's most promising young talents, after convicting him of spying for the CIA and Mossad (Israel's foreign intelligence service). Shakourzadeh, who had graduated top of his class in a satellite technology master's programme and was working at a scientific organisation specialising in satellites, was arrested by IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) intelligence in February 2025 and held at Tehran's Evin Prison before being transferred to Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj ahead of his execution. In a note smuggled out of prison, he denied the charges and stated that his confession had been extracted through eight and a half months of torture and solitary confinement; no details of the evidence or legal proceedings were made public before he was hanged. His death brings to nearly 30 the number of people executed by Iran in recent weeks on charges linked to alleged political activity, security offences, and January protests, drawing renewed condemnation from human rights organisations.