Iran executes British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari accused of spying, UK condemns 'barbaric' act

Iran has executed a British-Iranian national who once served as its deputy defence minister, its judiciary and state TV reported on Saturday (January 14), defying calls from London for his release after he was handed the death sentence on charges of spying for Britain. Britain, which had declared the case against Alireza Akbari as politically motivated, condemned the execution and said it would not stand unchallenged. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called it "a callous and cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people". In an audio recording purportedly from Akbari and broadcast by BBC Persian on Wednesday, he said he had confessed to crimes he had not committed after extensive torture. Sunak said on Twitter he was "appalled by the execution". Cleverly said in a statement it would "not stand unchallenged". "We will be summoning the Iranian Charge d’Affaires to make clear our disgust at Iran’s actions." British statements on the case have not addressed the Iranian charge that Akbari spied for Britain. 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. Iran’s state media often airs purported confessions by suspects in politically charged cases.