Iran has enacted a sweeping new “anti-espionage” law that dramatically broadens what can be punished as spying, up to and including the death penalty, amid a surge in executions and the political aftershocks of the recent 12-day war. Signed by President Masoud Pezeshkian, the statute criminalizes a wide array of activities far beyond classic intelligence work, from handling small drones and satellite-internet gear (explicitly naming Starlink) to cyber “disruption” and sharing images with foreign or opposition media. Legal scholars warn the law’s elastic definitions and intent tests (“opposition to the system,” “enemy force”) could turn routine digital behavior into capital offenses. The law’s architecture is as notable as its penalties. Article 3 stacks a long list of death-eligible acts (weapons-adjacent activity, cyber operations, possession/distribution of “micro-aircraft,” financing tied to foreign intel) atop mid-tier felonies that many Iranians could stumble into: using unlicensed satellite internet, sending media abroad, or producing content deemed to cause “public terror.” Articles 7–8 fast-track cases to Revolutionary Courts, bodies long criticized for limited due-process safeguards, while Article 9 applies provisions retroactively, a sharp break with legal norms. Dozens of Iranian jurists have publicly argued the package violates basic principles of legality, proportionality, equality before the law, and fair trial rights. Context matters. UN experts say Iran executed 1,000+ people in the first nine months of 2025, with recent averages topping nine hangings per day. Rather than accountability for security lapses revealed by the war, critics see a pivot toward criminalizing ordinary citizens’ tech use and speech, with “espionage” as a catch-all. The statute also codifies the U.S. and Israel as “hostile states,” a move lawyers say could complicate or undercut Iran’s prior reliance on the 1955 Treaty of Amity at the International Court of Justice, and harden diplomatic positions that might otherwise shift. Human-rights implications are immediate and sizable. The law appears to collide with Iran’s obligations under the ICCPR (Articles 6, 7 and 14 on right to life, prohibition of cruel punishment, and fair trials). Expanding capital liability to speech, media sharing, or consumer tech distribution is likely to chill basic expression and connectivity, especially as satellite internet has become a lifeline during shutdowns. Channeling these cases to Revolutionary Courts, coupled with retroactivity, further erodes defendants’ protections. This is less a calibrated counter-intelligence reform than a maximalist deterrent aimed at dissent, digital communications, and perceived foreign ties. In practice, its breadth and procedural shortcuts create vast prosecutorial discretion, and a high risk that ordinary Iranians, not spies, will bear the brunt.