On Saturday, the UK condemned Iran’s execution of former Iranian Defense Ministry official Alireza Akbari, an Iranian-British citizen accused of spying for British intelligence, stressing that it “will not go unanswered”, while Amnesty International said Akbari’s execution in Iran is a heinous attack on the right to freedom of life.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said: “This barbaric act deserves the strongest condemnation. He won’t go unanswered.”
For his part, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described Akbari’s execution as “horrible”, describing it as “a cruel and cowardly act perpetrated by a barbaric regime that does not respect the human rights of its people”.
In turn, Amnesty International on Twitter on Saturday condemned Iran’s “heinous attack” on the “right to life” after Tehran carried out Akbari’s death sentence.
“The execution by Iranian authorities this morning (Saturday) of Iranian-British citizen Alireza Akbari is further evidence of their heinous assault on the right to life,” Amnesty International said, calling on the British government to “fully investigate” allegations of apparent torture.
On Saturday, an Iranian court sentenced Ali Reza Akbari to death three days after it was revealed he had been convicted of spying for the United Kingdom, of which he is a citizen.
The next day, official Iranian media published details about Akbari, noting that he previously held positions in the Ministry of Defense and the Supreme National Security Council.
According to the judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency, Akbari’s death sentence was carried out by hanging after he was convicted of “corruption on the ground and damaging the internal and external security of the country by passing intelligence information.”
Alireza Akbari holds dual British-Iranian citizenship and is a former senior Iranian Defense Ministry official. He was an adviser or assistant to Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani during Mohammad Khatami’s two terms (1997-2005) from 2005 to 2007, when Ali Larijani was in charge of nuclear negotiations, a team led by Javad and Eid collaborated with him.
After leaving Iran and going to Austria, Spain and finally the UK, he started his economic activities there, lived in the UK for more than ten years and received dual citizenship.
He was arrested in 2019 on charges of spying for sensitive information. He was tried before Judge Salavati in the 15th division of the Revolutionary Court and sentenced to death. After rejecting the verdict, he appealed the verdict and the case was reviewed by the Supreme Court, which upheld the original verdict and death sentence for Ali Reza Akbari.
