At a retrial in Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh, Bekrzadeh, who is 25 years old and from Orumiyeh, was sentenced to death, while Vasaf, who is from Salmas, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, both on charges of “espionage for Israel”.
A source in Orumiyeh Central Prison who spoke to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said: “These two prisoners, who are being held in the political prisoners’ ward of Orumiyeh Central Prison, were recently summoned to the prison’s Enforcement of Judgments Office and notified of their sentences. According to the ruling, Nasser Bekrzadeh has once again been sentenced to death on charges of ‘espionage for Israel’, while Shahin Vasaf has been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on the same charge.”
The two prisoners, who were charged in separate cases with ‘espionage for Israel’, were tried in August this year at Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh, presided over by Judge Shahini.
Arrests and trials
Bekrzadeh was first arrested by the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Orumiyeh on 9 August 2023.
After a few weeks, he was temporarily released under a deal to cooperate with Iran’s security services.
However, he was re-arrested by IRGC Intelligence on 2 January 2024 and held for several months in the IRGC’s Al-Mahdi base detention centre in Orumiyeh before being transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison.
His trial took place on 2 November 2024 in Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh, presided over by Judge Najafzadeh, where he was sentenced to death on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
Following an appeal submitted by his defence team, the Supreme Court’s Branch 39 overturned the death sentence and referred the case for retrial to another court of equal authority.
In April 2025, his lawyer, Amir Raeisian, said on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that the Supreme Court had overturned the death sentence, writing: “We are now awaiting the referral of the case to another branch of the [Islamic] Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh for a retrial. Mr Bekrzadeh is a 25-year-old man who was working in Orumiyeh for a foreign employer in the tourism sector. The security services pursued legal action against him on suspicion that he had sent confidential information and classified documents to foreign nationals linked to the Zionist regime. In November last year, Mr Bekrzadeh was sentenced to death on charges of espionage for the Zionist regime. Following our request for appeal, the case was referred to Branch 39 of the Supreme Court, which subsequently overturned the death sentence.”
Vasaf was arrested by Ministry of Intelligence forces in Orumiyeh on 21 September 2022 and transferred to the Ministry’s detention facility in the city.
He was subjected to months of physical and psychological torture in the detention centre in order to force him to confess and accept the charge of “espionage for Israel”, before being transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison.
His trial, held without the presence of his chosen lawyer, took place at Branch Three of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh, and on 3 October 2023, the Enforcement of Judgments Office of the prison notified him of his death sentence.
After his appeal, the case was sent to the Supreme Court, which in April 2024 overturned the ruling and referred it to a parallel court.