Act Daily News
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A twin British-Iranian citizen was hanged by Iran on expenses of espionage and corruption, a state-affiliated media outlet reported Saturday, the newest in a string of executions carried out by a regime grappling with unprecedented protests throughout the nation.
The Iranian official, Alireza Akbari, was executed for crimes together with “corruption on earth,” in accordance the Iranian judiciary-affiliated outlet Mizan. Akbari was charged with working as a spy for MI6, the British intelligence company, and reportedly paid greater than $2 million in varied currencies – 1.805 million euros, 265,000 British kilos and $50,000 – Iranian state media reported Saturday.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned he was “appalled by the execution.” He added on Twitter: “This was a callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people. My thoughts are with Alireza’s friends and family.”
Akbari allegedly offered data to international officers about 178 Iranian figures, together with nation’s chief nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iranian media reported. Fakhrizadeh was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun working out of a automobile in 2020, in accordance with state-affiliated Fars News. Iran’s high officers accused Israel of masterminding the plot on the time, with out offering proof.
Akbari purportedly carried out his intelligence work by way of the veneer of a personal firm centered on analysis and commerce actions, working immediately with analysis institutes in London that Iran claimed had been headed by intelligence officers, Iran’s state news company IRNA reported. IRNA additionally cited allegations that Akbari had conferences with an MI6 intelligence officer and former British Ambassador to Iran Richard Dalton.
Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the loss of life penalty handed all the way down to Akbari after deeming it to be based mostly on “substantiated evidence,” in accordance with IRNA.
Mizan didn’t specify when the execution was carried out. Akbari’s loss of life sentence was introduced simply days in the past, on January 11, after his conviction on spying for the United Kingdom. Akbari had denied the costs.
According to allegations revealed in Mizan on Wednesday, Akbari had been arrested “some time ago.” The BBC reported Akbari was arrested in 2019.
“On this basis and after filing an indictment against the accused, the file was referred to court and hearings were held in the presence of the accused’s lawyer and based on the valid documents in this person’s file, he was sentenced to death for spying for the UK,” Mizan mentioned.
Akbari beforehand served as Iran’s deputy protection minister and was the pinnacle of the Strategic Research Institute, in addition to a member of the navy group that carried out the United Nations decision that ended the Iran-Iraq battle, in accordance with Iranian pro-reform outlet Shargh Daily. He served underneath Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, a reformist who was in workplace from 1997 to 2005, in accordance with the BBC.
Though Iran doesn’t acknowledge twin nationality, the execution of a person holding British citizenship will probably additional gas tensions between Tehran and Western democracies, which have been essential of the regime’s response to anti-government demonstrations that started in September final yr.
Iran has lengthy ranked among the many world’s high executioners, and Akbari is one in all three people to obtain a loss of life sentence within the first weeks of 2023. Two younger males, a karate champion and a volunteer youngsters’s coach, had been hanged final weekend after being convicted of killing a member of the nation’s Basij paramilitary pressure. Both had allegedly taken half within the protests that started after a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian girl, Mahsa Amini, died whereas in custody of the nation’s morality police.
Amini’s loss of life sparked large nationwide demonstrations towards a regime typically criticized as theocratic and dictatorial.
Critics have accused Tehran of responding to protests with extreme pressure – activist teams HRANA and Iran Human Rights say that 481 protesters have been killed – and utilizing the nation’s unjust judicial system to intimidate would-be demonstrators. United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk alleged that Tehran was “weaponizing” prison procedures to hold out “state-sanctioned killing” of protesters.
As many as 41 extra protesters have acquired loss of life sentences in latest months, in accordance with statements from each Iranian officers and in Iranian media reviewed by Act Daily News and 1500Tasvir, however the quantity may very well be a lot larger.
Iranian state media has reported that dozens of presidency brokers, from safety officers to officers of the basij paramilitary pressure, have been killed within the unrest.
Though Akbari’s execution was, on its floor, unrelated to the latest protests, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley alleged that the act was “politically motivated.” He mentioned Iran’s cost d’affaires can be summoned over the execution “to make clear our disgust at Iran’s actions.”
“The execution of British-Iranian Alireza Akbari is a barbaric act that deserves condemnation in the strongest possible terms. Through this politically motivated act, the Iranian regime has once again shown its callous disregard for human life,” Cleverly mentioned on Twitter. “This will not stand unchallenged.”
The UK authorities had urged Iran to not execute Akbari, and the Foreign Office mentioned it will proceed to assist his household.
Amnesty International known as Akbari’s execution “particularly horrific” and an “abhorrent assault on the right to life.” The rights group claimed that Akbari had mentioned he was forcibly administered chemical substances, held in extended solitary confinement and compelled to make recorded “confessions” repeatedly.
Amnesty urged the UK authorities to “fully investigate” these allegations of torture and in poor health remedy and “pursue all avenues to hold the Iranian authorities to account.”