Supplementary Information; Execution of Omid Behzad, 21-Year-Old Kurdish Student, in Undisclosed Location and Enforced Disappearance of His Body

August 3, 2026 – According to supplementary information obtained by Kurdpa, "Omid Behzad," a Kurdish citizen executed by the Islamic Republic, was 21 years old, single, a student at the Islamic Azad University of Urmia, and a resident of the Shahrak Sepah neighborhood in Urmia. He was arrested in March 2026 (Esfand 1404), approximately one week after the outbreak of the "40-day war."

An informed source told Kurdpa that "Omid Behzad" was executed despite the fact that, following an appeal by his defense lawyer, the death sentence previously issued against him had been overturned (vacated) by the Supreme Court on Saturday, August 1, 2026. Nevertheless, he was executed on the morning of Monday, August 3, 2026, in an undisclosed location.

According to this source, on Sunday, August 2, 2026, his family was summoned to conduct their final visit. However, no explanation has been provided to the family regarding the reason for executing the sentence despite its reversal by the Supreme Court. It remains completely unknown what transpired between the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the sentence and the execution, or where the execution was carried out.

The informed source added that the sole reason for Omid Behzad's initial arrest was his use of a VPN during a period of widespread internet shutdown, which allowed him to remain online. Following his arrest, security forces discovered his prior subscription to the "Iran International" Telegram channel on his phone and subsequently leveled the espionage-related charges against him on that basis alone.

It remains unconfirmed to Kurdpa whether Omid Behzad was permitted a lawyer of his own choosing or assigned a court-appointed lawyer during the trial proceedings. However, his family, convinced of his complete innocence and hoping the case would be resolved through legal channels, had refrained from publicizing news of his arrest prior to his execution.

Execution of Omid Behzad and Pourya Safvat on Espionage Charges; Executed Secretly with Only Forced Confession Video Released and Details Withheld

On the morning of Monday, August 3, 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."

This claim by state media stands in direct contradiction to Kurdpa's verified findings, which confirm that Omid Behzad's death sentence had in fact been overturned by the Supreme Court prior to his unlawful execution.

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.