Iran's Execution of an Israeli Spy

EIN News says, "Iran Executes Man Convicted of Spying for Israel. Iran on Tuesday executed two men, one of them said to be a member of an exiled opposition group and the other convicted of spying for Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, according to official reports. (nytimes.com)".

I have mixed feelings on this primarily because it is so nonspecific. Spying is too general a term. Before we start to consider a penalty for spying, we really should understand the specific nature of the action. For example, if a person or group is able to obtain through subterfuge military plans or a design of a military weapon, which is later placed in the hands of a foreign government, a significant number of lives could be jeopardized. This is the traditional concept of spying, as demonstrated in novels, movies and TV programs. The spy, when caught, prosecuted, and convicted, deserves the death penalty in this case, because he has contributed to potential mass murder.

On the other hand, spying may be much less dangerous to human life. An example is industrial spying, where the spy is stealing commercial secrets, which he can then sell to competitive companies. Another example is a person peeking under a window shade at another person undressing, which is an invasion of personal privacy. While these two examples are morally and legally prosecutable, they obviously do not deserve the death penalty.

Before we can agree or disagree with Iran's execution of an Israeli spy, we should know more about the specifics of the charges. Since he was convicted of spying for the Israeli intelligence service, there is an implication that his action placed in jeopardy the lives of Iranian citizens, in which case a death penalty would be warranted. However, we know from experience that the Iranian government is somewhat erratic in the perusal of such matters, and we would be completely justified in questioning the action they took in this matter until further detail would be presented.