Newsnation – Iran executes student who admitted under torture to working with CIA
An Iranian aerospace engineering master’s student has been executed by hanging by the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) according to human rights groups on charges of “espionage.”
Erfan Shakourzadeh, 29, was videotaped by the regime under distress and allegedly gave a forced confession to working with the CIA and Mossad agents. He was arrested two years ago and held in prison until his execution in Ghezel-Hesar Prison near Karaj.
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, “In the video, which was reportedly recorded under unclear circumstances, he says that CIA and Mossad agents attempted to recruit individuals by promoting the idea that there was ‘no future or progress in Iran’ and by raising topics such as the ‘futility of studying and working in the country.’”
The U.S.-based human rights group reported this month, “Executions of prisoners on political and security-related charges have increased alongside the outbreak of military conflict in Iran.”
An Iranian refugee, who spoke to NewsNation under the condition of anonymity for fear of their safety, said during that time, Shakourzadeh was held in solitary confinement for nine months under extreme torture.
They said, “These forced confessions are a way for the regime to justify its actions internationally and claim that what they did was right. They do not need for them for their own people; they use them to manipulate the international community and present themselves in a better light to the world.”
The Human Rights Activists News Agency did not specify the prison where Mr. Shakourzadeh’s execution was carried out. However, it had previously been reported that he was transferred from Evin Prison to Ghezel Hesar Prison for the implementation of the death sentence.
NewsNation reached out to the White House for comment and has not yet heard back.
Iran regime executions haven’t slowed down: refugee
The refugee said, “Since he was a genius, it would be more effective to execute him to cause fear and give others a lesson and eliminate the best of us.”
His death signals the regime “haven’t changed a bit by doing this. They have been slaughtering the people of Iran and haven’t stopped.”
Iranian regime trying to tamp down domestic upheaval: retired special forces officer
Mike Nelson, a retired Special Forces lieutenant colonel with extensive experience at U.S. Central Command, told NewsNation the regime is primarily concerned with tampering down any revolutionary uprising, and executions are a way to control the masses with fear-inducing tactics.
“The regime’s first thought is towards regime survival. They are still concerned with putting down domestic upheaval, and executing dissidents, in the face of objection from the US, could be meant to remove any hope from those looking to rise up,” Nelson said.
While President Trump has said he thinks the United States “won” the war against Iran last week, and the regime has been nearly wiped out, Nelson contested those remarks.
“The President’s rhetoric about the regime has always been hyperbolic and disconnected from reality.” Nelson continued, “The regime is very much intact, even if some of the key leaders have shifted. Based on his proclamation of ‘regime change’ in Venezuela, despite leaving the communist government in charge, one wonders if he actually knows what it means, or is just engaging in his normal over-the-top misrepresentations.”
NewsNation reached out for comment to the White House on the young scholar’s execution and the continued executions at the hands of the regime to which they offered a similar statement to the one they provided last week.
“President Trump will never allow Iran – a nation that brutally kills its own people for merely speaking out against the regime’s oppression, chants ‘Death to America’, and is the world’s leading state sponsor of terror – to obtain a nuclear weapon,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told NewsNation.
“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!”
The sources who spoke with NewsNation say the number of deaths during the protests is closer to 30,000, but an exact number is difficult to reach.
Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, Iran’s judiciary chief, who was appointed by former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2021, has asked for hastening the process of executions, NewsNation reported in April. Mohseni-Ejei has been described as a ruthless enforcer.
The regime is now led by Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei.
The refugee detailed that the executions of political prisoners and protesters “almost happen every day. Protesters were empty-handed and peaceful and the regime can only take revenge on these people. At least one person a day is executed.”
The nation held under the regime’s brutal control has been under an internet blackout
NetBlocks reported that the internet blackout in the country has reached its 73rd day.
The only way information can flow out of the country to report on activities going on within Iran is through illegal VPNs that come at a high-cost and could risk the lives of those who use them, according to Iranian refugees who spoke with NewsNation last month. VPNs were outlawed in 2024 by the regime’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace, under then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to maintain its grip on communications within and outside the country.
Iranian sources told NewsNation in February that many protesters who have been captured by the regime’s police forces are being savagely tortured and raped in prison before being executed.
An Iranian refugee told NewsNation that same month some of the female protesters’ bodies allegedly had their uteruses cut out in an attempt to conceal the militants’ alleged sexual crimes.
“Some of the women’s bodies that were returned to their families were missing their wombs so that the crimes could not be traced or investigated. To be honest, most families did not pursue the matter further in order to avoid even more suffering,” the refugee said then.
NewsNation obtained images of a deceased female protester who was allegedly killed in a prison in Bojnord, a city in Northern Khorasan province in Iran.
In April, NewsNation reported that a nurse, Salehe Akbari, who aided protesters in January, was reportedly hunted down in her home and shot in the heart in front of her husband, and then her deceased body was reportedly taken by IRGC militants and gang-raped, the refugee said. The regime soldiers allegedly took images of their violent acts and sent them to her husband, who was so grief-stricken he attempted to take his life this week, according to Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad.
The post Iran executes student who admitted under torture to working with CIA appeared first on Human Right Activists In Iran.
