Man executed by Iran for nuclear espionage was nuclear scientist, state media say

DUBAI (Reuters) -Rouzbeh Vadi, who state media said was executed on Wednesday for giving information on Iran's nuclear programme to Israel's Mossad spy agency, was himself a nuclear scientist, state broadcaster IRIB said on Thursday.

The judiciary's news outlet Mizan had said on Wednesday that Vadi was convicted of spying for Israel and passing on information about a nuclear scientist killed in Israel's June air strikes on the Islamic Republic.

"Key facilities were Fordow and Natanz (uranium enrichment plants), for which I sent information. I told them I knew this and that about Fordow, they (Mossad agent) told me to send everything," Vadi said in what IRIB described as a confession video it ran on the air.

"The entry and exit of nuclear material into the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) and Fuel Manufacturing Plant (FMP) were very important to them," Vadi, who held a PhD in nuclear engineering from Amir Kabir University of Technology, added.

A voiceover in the video said that Vadi met five times with Mossad agents while in Vienna and was asked to open a cryptocurrency account to receive payment for his services. The defendant said in the video that Mossad had promised him a foreign passport should he complete a long-term collaboration.

IRIB on Thursday shared a screenshot of an academic paper presented at an Iranian nuclear conference in 2012 that was written by Vadi as well as Ahmad Zolfaqar and Abdolhamid Minouchehr - two nuclear scientists killed in June by Israel.

In the document, Vadi is introduced as a nuclear researcher at the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, the country's top nuclear body.

Executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel have significantly increased this year, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months.

Israel carried out 12 days of air strikes in June, targeting Iran's top generals, nuclear scientists and sensitive nuclear installations. Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles and drones at Israel.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; editing by Mark Heinrich)