A former defense ministry worker, found guilty of selling information to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has been executed, the Iranian judiciary said on Tuesday. Reza Asgari had linked up with the CIA during his last years serving at the defense ministry and sold the agency information about Iran's missile program, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said, quoted by its Mizan website. Asgari retired from the ministry four years ago. Esmaili said Asgari was executed last week. Separately, Esmaili said a death sentence for Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd, an Iranian accused of spying for US and Israeli intelligence, is among those still to be carried out. Tensions have increased between Tehran and Washington since the United States killed top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad on Jan. 3, prompting Tehran to retaliate with a missile strike against a US base in Iraq. Last summer, Iran announced it had broken up a CIA spy ring of 17 individuals and that some had been sentenced to death. — Agencies
