Key Facts

• Erfan Shakourzadeh was a top-ranked master's student at Iran University of Science and Technology.
• He was convicted of spying for the CIA and Mossad and was hanged at Ghezel Hesar prison near Tehran.
• Rights groups report he was kept in solitary confinement and tortured to force a confession.
• Shakourzadeh wrote a note before his execution rejecting the charges and asking people not to ignore such cases.
• He was the fifth person executed for espionage since the war involving the U.S. and Israel started in late February.
• Iran has executed many people recently, including protesters and political opponents, often after trials with little transparency.
• Iran is the country with the second highest number of executions after China.
• Iranian authorities have said they will speed up executions in response to internal and external threats.