Status: 01/14/2023 10:32 a.m
Former Deputy Defense Minister Akbari has been executed in Iran on charges of espionage. He also held British nationality. The government in London is now threatening the consequences.
Iran has executed former Deputy Defense Minister Ali Reza Akbari, convicted of espionage. This was reported by the Iranian news agency Misan.
Akbari, who has both Iranian and British nationality, is said to have worked for the British secret service MI-6 and committed treason in exchange for money. He was accused of “corruption” and “endangering the country’s internal and external security because of the disclosure of information”.
Britain threatens consequences
After the execution, Britain threatens Iran with consequences. British Prime Minister Rishi Suna tweeted that he was appalled. “This was a callous and cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime that does not respect the human rights of its own people.” Secretary of State James Cleverly spoke of an “insensitive act” that must have consequences.
Akbari had denied the allegations
In a recording broadcast by the BBC on Wednesday, Akbari said he had confessed to crimes he had not committed after being severely tortured. Britain had previously urged Iran to stop the execution. Secretary of State Cleverly described them as “politically motivated”.
Iranian media circulated on Thursday that Akbari played a role in the 2020 murder of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fachrisadeh. A video was also broadcast in which Akbari stated that he was not involved in the murder. However, a British spy questioned him about Fakhrisadeh.
Involved in negotiations in the Iran-Iraq War
Akbari had run a private think tank. He was close to Ali Shamkhani, a senior security official in Iran, but has not been seen in public since 2019.
In 1988, Akbari was responsible for implementing a ceasefire after eight years of war between Iran and Iraq, working closely with UN monitors.
Observers consider it possible that the death sentence imposed on Akbari could also point to a power struggle within the Iranian security apparatus.
Almost 20,000 arrests since protests began
The Iranian government has for months accused foreign countries of being responsible for the nationwide protests following the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by the vice squad in September.
The anti-government protests are one of the biggest challenges facing the Islamic Republic since its founding in 1979. According to human rights activists in Iran, at least 520 protesters have been killed and more than 19,300 arrested. Several people have already been executed.