Alireza Akbari, a British-Iranian national, was executed by Iran on Saturday, according to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency, after being sentenced to death on charges of spying for Britain.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned late Friday that Iran must not carry out the execution, a request backed by the US State Department. Britain has campaigned for his release, describing the death penalty as politically motivated.
Mizan stated in a tweet early Saturday that the punishment had been carried out, but did not specify when.“Alireza Akbari, who was sentenced to death on charges of corruption on earth and extensive action against the country’s internal and external security through espionage for the British government’s intelligence service … was executed,” it said
Akbari, who was detained in 2019, was paid 1,805,000 euros, 265,000 pounds, and $50,000 for espionage
According to the article, Akbari, who was detained in 2019, was paid 1,805,000 euros, 265,000 pounds, and $50,000 for espionage. In an audio tape allegedly made by Akbari and released by BBC Persian on Wednesday, he claimed to have confessed to acts he did not commit after lengthy torture.
On Thursday, Iranian state media published a video in which they said Akbari was involved in the killing of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was killed in a 2020 attack outside Tehran that authorities blamed on Israel at the time.
In the film, Akbari did not admit to being involved in the assassination but stated that a British agent had inquired about Fakhrizadeh. The Iranian official media frequently broadcasts alleged confessions by suspects in politically heated cases.
Reuters was unable to confirm the veracity of the state media footage and audio, as well as when or where they were captured. London-Tehran relations have deteriorated in recent months as efforts to resurrect Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, to which Britain is a signatory, have stagnated.
Britain has also criticized the Islamic Republic’s deadly assault on anti-government protests, which began in September after the death in detention of a young Iranian-Kurdish lady.
According to a British Foreign Office minister, Britain is actively contemplating designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization but has not reached a final decision.
As part of the crackdown on the protests, Iran has imposed hundreds of death sentences
As part of the crackdown on the protests, Iran has imposed hundreds of death sentences and executed at least four people. Akbari stated in an audio clip published by BBC Persian that he had made false confessions as a result of torture.
“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
Ali Shamkhani, presently the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was Akbari’s deputy when he was defense minister from 1997 to 2005.
