The Islamic Republic’s judiciary announced Wednesday the execution by hanging of Rouzbeh Vadi, who was convicted of spying for Israel. Authorities claimed he had provided the Mossad with information that helped Israel assassinate an Iranian nuclear scientist during the 12-day war in June.
The confession of Rouzbeh Vadi in Farsi
During that war, Israel targeted and killed multiple Iranian nuclear scientists in a campaign aimed at crippling Tehran’s ability to rebuild its nuclear program, which had suffered heavy damage from Israeli and American strikes.
While Wednesday’s announcement described Vadi only as an “employee of one of the country’s important and sensitive agencies,” Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB has now reported that he was himself a nuclear scientist employed by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
IRIB published a screenshot of what it claimed was an academic paper co-authored by Vadi and presented at a conference in 2012. The paper was also signed by two other nuclear scientists—Ahmad Zolfaghar and Abdulhamid Minoushar—both of whom were reportedly assassinated by Israel in June.
The broadcaster also released a video showing what it claimed was Vadi’s confession. While the footage appears to be coerced, Vadi is seen saying he passed on information about Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz, both of which were hit during the war and, according to U.S. President Donald Trump, were destroyed.
“I told them I had information, and it was about Fordow. They [Mossad agents] told me to send everything,” Vadi said in the video. He also claimed that the Mossad was “very interested” in information about “the entry and exit of nuclear material” at a uranium conversion site—possibly referring to the gas-to-metal conversion facility in Isfahan, which was also reportedly attacked by Israel and the U.S.
The recent war in Iran, during which Israel demonstrated the extent of its intelligence penetration into the Islamic Republic, severely shook Tehran’s leadership. Israel assassinated top regime security officials and even released an unprecedented video showing Mossad operatives launching drones from inside Iranian territory, causing widespread panic among the Iranian elite.