A state-affiliated media outlet said on Saturday that Iran has executed a British-Iranian dual citizen for espionage and corruption, the latest in a string of executions carried out by a regime facing unprecedented protests across the country.
According to Mizan, a publication related to the Iranian judiciary, Alireza Akbari was hanged for, among other things, “corruption on earth.” Iranian state media said on Saturday that Akbari had received more than $2 million in various currencies – €1.805 million, 265,000 British pounds and $50,000 – for his services as a spy for Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency.
Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has expressed his “shocked by the execution” sentiments. He continued on Twitter, writing: “This was a heartless and cowardly act committed by a savage regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people. My condolences go out to Alireza’s loved ones.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced sanctions against Iranian Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri on Saturday afternoon to “show our anger at the death of Alireza Akbari”. The Attorney General is important for the execution of death sentences in Iran.
Stressed that the regime would be held accountable for its heinous human rights violations. Iranian state media claimed that Akbari had informed foreign officials about 178 people, including Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the best nuclear expert in the country.
According to the state-backed Fars News, Fakhrizadeh was killed in 2020 by a remote controlled machine gun fired from a moving vehicle. Senior Iranian authorities first blamed Israel for orchestrating the plot without providing any evidence of this claim.
IRNA, Iran’s national news agency, reported that Akbari, a suspected intelligence agent, pretended to run his operations from a private company engaged in research and trade with London-based institutions that Iran claimed were run by intelligence officers.
IRNA reported that Akbari had met with a British intelligence agent and the previous British ambassador to Iran. Richard Dalton. Akbari’s death sentence was upheld by Iran’s top court, which said the verdict was supported by “substantiated evidence” as reported by IRNA.
Mizan was vague about the timing of the execution. On January 11, just days after his conviction for espionage for the UK, Akbari’s death sentence was announced. After being charged, Akbari said he was innocent.
According to Mizan, there were reports of Akbari’s detention “some time ago.” Akbari’s arrest in 2019 was reported by the BBC. According to Mizan, “the file was referred to the court after charges were filed against the defendant. Hearings were held in the presence of the defendant’s attorney; and based on the valid documents in this person’s file, he was sentenced to death for spying for the UK.
According to the Shargh Daily, an Iranian reformist newspaper, Akbari was previously Iran’s deputy defense minister, chairman of the Strategic Research Institute and a member of the military unit that implemented the UN resolution that ended the conflict between Iran and Iran. Iraq. According to the BBC, he worked for Iran’s reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, who was in government from 1997 to 2005.
While Iran does not allow dual citizenship, the death of a British citizen is sure to increase tensions between Tehran and Western governments, which were critical of the regime’s response to anti-government protests that began last September.
Akbari is one of three people to receive the death penalty in Iran in the first weeks of 2023. Iran has historically been among the best executioners in the world. Last Saturday, two young men, a karate champion and a volunteer children’s coach, were hanged for the murder of a member of the country’s Basij paramilitary organization.
Both would have participated in the demonstrations that broke out afterwards Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, died while in the custody of the country’s vice squad. Amini’s death sparked widespread protests against the regime, which was already under fire for its theocratic and autocratic leanings.
Activist groups HRANA and Iran Human Rights claim that 481 protesters have been killed and that the country’s unjust justice system is being used to frighten would-be protesters, both of which have been blamed by the Iranian government.
According to Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is “arming” criminal proceedings in Tehran to carry out “state-sanctioned killings” of protesters. Statements from the Iranian government and Iranian media, analyzed by CNN and 1500Tasvir, put the number of protesters who have received the death penalty in recent months at 41, but the real number may be much higher.
According to official Iranian media, dozens of government agents, including security officials and officers from the paramilitary organization basij, have been killed during the unrest. Slim, the British Foreign Secretary claimed that Akbari’s death was “politically motivated”, despite the fact that it appeared to be unrelated to the earlier riots.
In response to Iran’s execution, he stated, “to express our disapproval of Iran’s actions,” the country’s chargé d’affaires would be summoned to Washington. The execution of British-Iranian Alireza Akbari was a brutal act that must be condemned in the strongest terms.
Cleverly wrote on Twitter that the Iranian regime’s “callous disregard for human life” was fully reflected in this politically motivated behavior. This will be returned to. The British government had begged Iran to save Akbari’s life, and the Foreign Office had promised to continue looking after the family after his release.
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