A death row prisoner accused by Tehran of spying for Israel has been transferred to solitary confinement, a step that typically precedes executions, informed sources told Iran International.
Aqil Keshavarz, a student from Isfahan, was moved from the general ward to a solitary cell on December 17, sources said, adding that the transfer was carried out to prepare for the implementation of his death sentence.
Keshavarz was arrested in June during the twelve-day war between Israel and Iran and was later convicted of spying for Israel by Iran’s judiciary.
Until now, there had been no public reporting on his case, and his name had not appeared in media coverage or human rights reports.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network identified Keshavarz as an architecture student at Shahroud University. According to the group, he was detained by agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization while traveling to Urmia.
A source familiar with the case said Keshavarz was held for about a week at an IRGC intelligence detention facility in Urmia, where he was interrogated and tortured in an effort to extract a forced confession. He was later transferred to Tehran’s Evin prison.
The source added that Keshavarz was being held in Evin at the time the prison was bombed by Israel, after which he was moved to another detention center and eventually transferred to Urmia Central Prison.
In late summer, Branch One of the Urmia Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Sajjad Dousti, sentenced him to death on charges of espionage for Israel, the source said. The ruling was later upheld by a special court handling espionage cases.
According to the source, Keshavarz and his family had remained silent about the case due to threats from security interrogators. In recent days, authorities informed him that his sentence had been finalized and summoned his family for a final visit.
Iranian authorities have carried out a wave of arrests, trials and executions on espionage and security-related charges following the punishing conflict with Israel, which was capped off by US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Officials have said more than 700 people were detained on suspicion of spying or cooperating with Israel.
Human rights groups and the UN special rapporteur on Iran say at least twelve people have been executed this year on espionage charges, warning that many such cases lack fair trial guarantees.
Rights organizations say dozens of political prisoners in Iran currently face a serious risk of execution.
