An Iranian-Briton has been executed by hanging after being sentenced to death for spying for British intelligence, the Iranian Judiciary Agency announced on Saturday (January 14th).
Former senior Iranian defense official, Alireza Akbari, 61, was sentenced for “corruption on Earth and for undermining the internal and external security of the country for having transmitted information” in the United Kingdom, according to the agency of the Iranian Judicial Authority Mizan Online.
“A barbaric act”
His execution came three days after the announcement of the death sentence for this man presented as having been a “key spy” for the “Secret Intelligence Service” (SIS), also known as MI6, due to “the importance of his position”.
In a tweet, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak denounced a condemnation “ruthless and cowardly”. This is a “barbaric act” who “will not go unanswered”reacted the head of British diplomacy, James Cleverly, adding that “London was going to summon the Iranian charge d’affaires to tell him of our disgust”.
He then said that the Attorney General of Iran, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, had been placed under sanctions, without however specifying the nature. “We call the (Iranian) regime to account for its appalling human rights violations”he added in a tweet.
“Malicious support”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced for its part that it had summoned the British ambassador to Tehran on Saturday, denouncing the “malicious support” that London brought to a “spy”.
‘The UK government must be held accountable for making unconventional contact’ having represented “an attack on the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran”the Iranian ministry added.
Alireza Akbari was hanged just hours after the United States joined its British ally in calling on Iran not to carry out his execution.
Condemnation of France
France also condemned “with the greatest firmness” the execution of Akbari, an act which “cannot remain unanswered”and summoned ” a new time “ Chargé d’Affaires of the Iranian Embassy.
US diplomat Vedant Patel said on Friday that “strong concerns” from Washington after reports that Akbari was “drugged, tortured in police custody, interrogated for thousands of hours and forced to make false confessions”.
On Twitter, Amnesty International called Akbari’s execution Saturday “heinous attack” against “the right to life”the NGO calling on the British government to “fully investigate” on the accusations of torture of which he would have been the victim.
“The fact that Iran carried out this execution as the UK and EU consider putting the IRGC (Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) on terrorist lists shows that this is part of the diplomatic hostage-taking policy of the Islamic Republic »the director of the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights group, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, told AFP.
Four executions in December
A veteran of the war between Iran and Iraq (1980-1988), Alireza Akbari was notably Deputy Minister of Defense for Foreign Affairs, head of a unit in a ministerial research center and adviser for the commander of the Navy, according to the official Irna agency.
Iran regularly announces the arrest of agents suspected of working for foreign intelligence services. Four people accused of cooperating with the Israeli intelligence services were executed in early December.
Akbari’s execution comes as Iran is rocked by protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, after she was arrested for breaking the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. for women.
