Iran executes former deputy defense minister Alireza Akbari for alleged espionage
Ryan King
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Iran executed dual British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari for alleged espionage, state media announced Saturday, drawing swift condemnation from the United Kingdom.
Akbari served as a deputy defense minister for the regime before his arrest, which came sometime in 2019 or 2020 for allegedly working with British intelligence MI6, according to Mizan News Agency, a state-controlled media outlet with links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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“I am appalled by the execution of British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari in Iran. This was a callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people. My thoughts are with Alireza’s friends and family,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted.
British officials had pleaded with Tehran not to execute Akbari and to release him, but Tehran does not acknowledge dual citizenship and refused to capitulate, the Washington Post reported. His death sentence came via hanging, but details of precisely when it was conducted were not revealed by Iran’s state-run media.
Iran has previously made disputed accusations of spying during its arrests. Akbari, 61, served in former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s administration from 1997 to 2005. His former boss, then-Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani is now the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council had invited Akbari back to Iran prior to his arrest, Akbari’s brother told the BBC.
Tehran’s Ministry of Intelligence characterized Akbari as “one of the most important infiltrators of the British spy service.” He reportedly participated in nuclear negotiations on behalf of Tehran.
Officials at the State Department iterated the United Kingdom’s pleas to Iran not to execute Akbari.
“We echo the British government’s strong call for Iran not to proceed with this execution and to release Mr. Akbari immediately. The charges against Ali-Reza Akbari and his sentencing to execution were politically motivated. His execution would be unconscionable,” U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said.
https://twitter.com/StateDeputySpox/status/1613988717198442497
Akbari resided in the U.K for roughly a decade and is believed to have played a key role in brokering a cease-fire that ended the eight-year war with Iraq in 1988, the Guardian reported. British officials vowed to support his family.
State-run media in Iran played a highly edited video of his purported confession and alleged he garnered over $2.3 million for serving as a spy for the U.K., the Washington Post reported.
Tehran recently sentenced a Belgian national with 74 lashes and 40 years in prison for espionage charges. Iran has been gripped by sprawling protests over the September death of Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after being apprehended by the morality police for allegedly breaching the country’s dress restrictions.
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The troubled nation has rolled out death penalties and other harsh punishments for some of those protesters over recent weeks, stirring international outrage from the west.