Iran executes former deputy defence minister, also an Iranian-British national, over alleged spying for UK

Iran had accused Akbari of being a spy for Britain’s MI-6 intelligence agency and aired a highly edited video of him discussing the allegations

Iran’s government for months has been trying to allege that foreign countries have fomented unrest since the death of Mahsa Amini in September

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A woman wears the Iranian national flag during a protest outside the French embassy in Tehran, Iran on January 11, 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 4:47pm, 14 Jan 2023Updated: 10:01pm, 14 Jan 2023

Iran has executed a British-Iranian national who once served as its deputy defence minister, its judiciary said, defying calls from London and Washington for his release after he was handed the death sentence on charges of spying for Britain.

Britain, which had declared the case against Alireza Akbari politically motivated, condemned the execution, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calling it “a callous and cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime”.

Iran’s Mizan news agency, associated with the country’s judiciary, announced Alireza Akbari’s hanging.

“I am appalled by the execution of British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari in Iran,” Sunak said on Twitter. “This was a callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people.”

In this photo released by KhabarOnline News Agency on September 18, 2019, Alireza Akbari speaks in an interview in Iran. Iran has executed Akbari after convicting him on charges of spying for Britain, media reported on Saturday. Photo: via AP

Akbari was executed after being sentenced to death for “corruption on earth and harming the country’s internal and external security by passing on intelligence”, Mizan reported.