Iran has executed former Deputy Defense Minister Alireza Akbari on charges of spying for the United Kingdom, the Middle East country’s justice announced on Saturday (13). He had Iranian and British citizenship and had been imprisoned since 2019.
The execution further heightens tensions between Iran and Western powers. After Akbari, 61, was sentenced to death by the country’s Supreme Court, Britain this week said the sentence was politically motivated and called for his immediate release.
Requests in vain: This Saturday, the Iranian Judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported the execution without detailing when it took place.
On Thursday, Iranian state media, which has portrayed Akbari as a super spy, broadcast a video purportedly proving his involvement in the assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. He was killed in 2020 in an attack attributed to Israel.
In the video, Akbari did not confess to involvement in the murder, but said a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh. Iran’s state media often broadcast suspects’ confessions when sentences are attributed to political motives. The Reuters news agency was unable to establish the authenticity of the video.
In an audio broadcast by BBC Persian, meanwhile, Akbari said he made false confessions after being tortured. “With more than 3,500 hours of torture, psychedelic drugs and physiological and psychological pressure methods, they took away my will. They drove me to the brink of madness and forced me to make false confessions by force of arms and death threats,” he said. .
Akbari was a close ally of Ali Shamkhani, current secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and minister of defense between 1997 and 2005. During this period, Akbari served as deputy chief of staff. In addition, he fought during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s as a member of the Revolutionary Guards.
“He was one of the most important agents of the intelligence service in Iran and had access to sensitive centers in the country,” said the Iranian Interior Ministry. “Akbari knowingly provided information to the enemy’s spy service.”
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the execution on Saturday, calling it “a callous and cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime”. He said he was horrified and accused Tehran of disrespecting human rights and its own people.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement that his country would contest the execution and later announced sanctions on Iran’s attorney general. The UK’s statements on the case do not address the spying allegations.
On the other hand, Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the British ambassador on Saturday over what it called “London’s meddling in Iran’s national security realm,” state news agency IRNA reported.
The US ambassador to London, Jane Hartley, called the execution appalling and disgusting. Amnesty International said the execution again showed the “abominable attack on the right to life” by the Iranian authorities and mentioned the alleged torture Akbari was said to have suffered.
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