Iran has executed a man on charges of spying for Israel. Ali Ashtari, a 43-year-old businessman, was convicted in June 2008 of passing classified information to Israel regarding Iran's military and nuclear program. Israeli defense officials denied any connection to Ashtari, whose hanging in Tehran last week marked the first time an alleged Israeli spy had been executed by Iran.
"We had specific intentions with announcing the execution of Ashtari ... we want to show that new intelligence battles with enemy's intelligence services have begun and that intelligence battles have become more serious," the state-run news agency IRNA quoted the head of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry's Counterespionage Department as saying. In a video aired on Iranian state television, Ashtari is seen confessing to spying for Israel and expressing regret for his actions. The date of the recording was not given.
Another Iranian was arrested last week on similar charges of spying for Israel. Hossein Derakhshan, a young blogger who also holds Canadian citizenship, visited Israel in 2007 to get a better feel for the country that he has long urged the Muslim world to accept. Iranian officials claimed that Derakhshan had confessed to spying for Israel.
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