Mehdi Rasouli

Mehdi Rasouli was executed by hanging in Mashhad on 4 May 2026, alongside Mohammadreza Miri. Iranian state media described both men as Mossad elements involved in an alleged January 2026 coup attempt; the charge sheet cited a moharebeh (enmity against God) conviction. No independent verification of the coup-plot allegations was available at publication time; Iran's judiciary does not release pre-execution evidence dossiers, and no Israeli response was recorded.

Rasouli's biographical details remain sparse. State media identified him as an adult male Iranian national with contacts attributed to Israeli intelligence. The joint execution with Miri on a single morning signals a coordinated judicial action rather than routine sentencing, consistent with Iran's documented pattern of batch executions linked to announced security operations.

The executions occurred during a period of acute Iranian domestic tension: the Hormuz blockade was entering its third week, US naval forces had deployed Project Freedom to the Strait, and the judiciary was simultaneously processing cases from the January 2026 unrest. Executing individuals labelled as foreign-intelligence agents publicly reinforces the regime's counter-espionage narrative at a moment when it faces significant external military pressure.