Iran has executed British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari, the judiciary’s Mizan on Saturday, after sentencing him to death on charges of spying for Britain. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Friday that Iran must not follow through with the execution of Akbari, a former Iranian deputy defence minister. Britain had described the death sentence as politically motivated and called for his immediate release.

"Alireza Akbari, who was sentenced to death on charges of corruption on earth and extensive action against the country’s internal and external security through espionage for the British government s intelligence service ... was executed,” Mizan said in a tweet. It accused him of receiving 1,805,000 euros, 265,000 pounds, and $50,000 for spying. In an audio recording broadcast by BBC Persian on Wednesday, Akbari said he had confessed to crimes he had not committed after extensive torture.

Iranian state media broadcast a video on Thursday that they said showed that Akbari played a role in the 2020 assassination of Iran s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed in a 2020 attack outside Tehran which authorities blamed at the time on Israel. In the video, Akbari did not confess to involvement in the assassination but said a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP