British Foreign Affairs protested this decision by a “barbaric regime” and called for his immediate release.
The Iranian judiciary has sentenced to death a British-Iranian convicted of spying on behalf of the United Kingdom, the judiciary said on Wednesday, January 11, angering London, which called for the sentence not to be carried out. “Alireza Akbari has been sentenced to death for corruption on Earth and undermining the country’s internal and external security for leaking intelligence information,” Mizan Online reported.
The head of British diplomacy, James Cleverly, tweeted: “Iran must stop the execution of British and Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari and release him immediately”. “This is a politically motivated act by a barbaric regime that has utter disregard for human life,” he said.
A “key spy” in British intelligence
Mizan Online did not provide the dates of the arrest and sentencing, which were confirmed by the Supreme Court. The agency also does not indicate the functions performed by the convict. But she hints, citing a statement from the Ministry of Intelligence, that Alireza Akbari has become a “key spy” for the British “Intelligence Service” (SIS) because of “the importance of his position”. According to the same source, he provided “important information from the country” to this service.
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On February 2, 2019, Iran Daily, a government newspaper, published an interview with Alireza Akbari as “former deputy defense minister in the reformist government” of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005).
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In early December, four Iranians were executed after being sentenced to death for “collaborating” with Israel, a sworn enemy of the Islamic Republic. Iran regularly announces the arrest of agents suspected of working for foreign intelligence agencies, including Israel. Relations between Tehran and London have been strained in recent years by the arrests of several dual nationals.
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