In a rare move, Iran has executed a top nuclear scientist accused of spying for Israel—exposing just how deeply foreign intelligence may have infiltrated one of the country’s most sensitive programs, the New York Times reports. According to Iran’s judiciary, Roozbeh Vadi worked at a sensitive nuclear facility and fed classified information to Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. He was hanged after being convicted of espionage and of providing information that facilitated Israel’s assassination of another Iranian scientist during a brief but intense conflict with Israel and the US in June, ABC News reports.
Officials say Israel’s intelligence operations managed to strike deep, with targeted killings of over 40 senior Iranian officials and nuclear experts during the 12-day war in June, made possible by alleged infiltration of Iranian security systems. The execution of a scientist—regarded by many Iranians as a national hero—signals both the seriousness of the breach and Tehran’s concern about espionage within its ranks.