Execution of Omid Behzad and Pourya Safvat on Espionage Charges; Executed Secretly with Only Forced Confession Video Released and Details Withheld
August 4, 2026 – On the morning of Tuesday, August 4, 2026, Mizan News Agency, affiliated with the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, reported the execution of two individuals named "Omid Behzad" and "Pourya Safvat." The Islamic Republic executed these two young men in connection with the "12-day war" and "40-day war" under the alleged charge of "sending coordinates of sensitive locations to Mossad" through a secret, opaque process lacking transparency. The news outlet provided no details regarding the location of the execution, the date of their arrest, or the fate of their bodies, releasing only an edited and spliced forced confession video.
Mizan News Agency introduced the two individuals as "Mossad operational elements on the ground." Regarding "Omid Behzad," it claimed that "during the 40-day war, he repeatedly sent the coordinates of military and security centers via location-based apps and maps directly through Telegram channels affiliated with Mossad, without naming any channel." However, in a mere 31-second excerpt of the published forced confession video, Omid Behzad says: "I started sending places I had previously passed by, knew, and had in my mind to a Telegram channel."
The news agency also claimed regarding "Pourya Safvat," whom it referred to as "Netanyahu's soldier" in connection with the 12-day war, that he sent coordinates of military and security centers through the "Iran International satellite channel, directly contacted Mossad on several occasions, and sent images of bombardments and air defense systems to Iran International." Nevertheless, in only 10 seconds of the published forced confession video, Pourya Safvat states that he sent a message to Iran International via Telegram and provided "the coordinates of a few centers, a mosque, a Basij base, and the Intelligence Department."
Ultimately, Mizan News Agency—without mentioning the exact judicial proceedings, the number and quality of court sessions, how the defendants were granted access to a lawyer (whether chosen or court-appointed), defense access to the case file, how they defended themselves in court, or their right to appeal the verdict, and without even disclosing their date of arrest—claimed that "after the completion of investigations, issuance of the indictment, and court proceedings based on confessions, other evidence, and discovered messages, the death sentence was issued and subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court."
The execution of these two political prisoners took place while, prior to the announcement of the execution, no news regarding their arrest, case file, or judicial proceedings had been published by government institutions, media, or human rights organizations. Furthermore, the only existing images of these two individuals stem from a 53-minute forced confession video released by Mizan News Agency, of which only 31 seconds are dedicated to statements by Omid Behzad and 10 seconds to Pourya Safvat. The video displays them in an undisclosed location alongside footage of targeted strike locations without specifying what these locations are. Additionally, in the section displaying message records, the name of the Telegram channel claimed by Mizan News Agency to be affiliated with Mossad has been blurred.
Since March 18, 2026, the Islamic Republic of Iran has executed at least 12 people on espionage charges: 10 people on charges of espionage or collaboration with Israel and/or the United States, and 2 people on charges of collaboration with an undisclosed Arab country. The identities of these individuals are: Kourosh Keivani, Mehdi Farid, Yaghoub Karimpour, Naser Bakrzadeh, Erfan Shakourzadeh, Ehsan Afrashteh, Ali Nader Al-Obeidi, Fazel Sheikh Karim, Mojtaba Kian, Gholamreza Khani-Shakarab, Omid Behzad, and Pourya Safvat.
Image captured from the forced confession video; from right, Omid Behzad, Pourya Safvat.
