Iran has executed a man convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, state media reported Wednesday.

The official IRNA news agency named the man as Ali Ardestani, stating that he passed sensitive information to Mossad officers in exchange for cryptocurrency payments. According to the report, Ardestani admitted to the charges and had sought a reward of one million dollars and a British visa. IRNA described him as a “special operative force of Israel” and claimed he provided Mossad agents with images and videos of “sensitive locations.”

The agency did not specify when or where Ardestani was detained. It said Israel had recruited him online, and that his case underwent both primary court and Supreme Court proceedings in Iran.

Human rights groups and Western governments have criticized Iran’s growing use of the death penalty, especially for political and espionage cases. Activists argue that many convictions rely on confessions obtained under duress, and that trials are often held behind closed doors without independent legal representation.

Iran, however, maintains that those executed are “agents of hostile intelligence services” involved in terrorist or sabotage activities. Iranian officials have accused Israel of carrying out a series of covert attacks inside Iran, including the assassination of nuclear scientists and cyberattacks on strategic facilities.

Since a June conflict that killed nearly 1,100 people in Iran, including senior military officials and nuclear scientists, Tehran has executed 12 people for espionage. In retaliation, Iranian missile strikes killed 28 people in Israel.

The exchange has heightened tensions and left both countries on high alert, further escalating regional instability.