Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/DUBAI: Iran has executed British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari after sentencing him to death on charges of spying for Britain, Mizan news agency reported on Saturday.
on Friday, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had urged Iran not to execute Akbari, a former Iranian deputy defence minister.
Iran Executed
According to Reuters, Britain has described the death sentence and the execution as politically motivated and called for his immediate release.
Mizan news agency said: “Alireza Akbari, who was sentenced to death on the charges of corruption on earth and extensive action against the country’s external and internal security through espionage for the British government’s intelligence service … was executed.”
Iran had accused Akbari of receiving 1,805,000 euros, 265,000 pounds, and $50,000 for spying.
In an audio recording by BBC Persian on Wednesday, Akbari said that he was forced and tortured to confess to crimes he had not committed.
On Thursday, Iranian state media broadcast a video clip that claimed Akbari played a role in the 2020 assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was killed outside Tehran and Iranian authorities then blamed Israel for the assassination.
Akbari did not confess to involvement in the assassination but said that a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh.
