Alireza Akbari, a British-Iranian, was convicted of espionage and sentenced to death, provoking strong reactions in London.
An Iranian-British man convicted of spying for Britain has been sentenced to death by an Iranian court, the Judiciary body said on Wednesday, angering London, which called for the sentence not to be carried out. .
“Alireza Akbari has been sentenced to death for corruption on earth and for undermining the internal and external security of the country for transmitting intelligence,” Mizan Online reported.
British Foreign Minister James Cleverly reacted strongly on Twitter. “Iran must stop the execution of British and Iranian national Alireza Akbari and release him immediately.” “This is a politically motivated act by a barbaric regime that has total disregard for human life,” he said.
A former deputy minister?
Mizan Online did not provide specifics on the dates of the arrest and conviction, which was upheld by the Supreme Court. The agency also does not specify the functions exercised by the convict.
But she says, citing a statement from the Ministry of Intelligence, that Alireza Akbari had become a “key spy” for the British “Secret Intelligence Service” (SIS) because of “the importance of his position”. He provided “important information from the country” to this service, according to the same source.
On February 2, 2019, the daily Irana government newspaper, had published an interview with Alireza Akbari as “former deputy defense minister in the reformist government” of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005).
Beginning December, four Iranians were executed after being sentenced to death for “cooperation” with Israel, the Islamic Republic’s sworn enemy.
