Iran does not recognize the status of dual citizens.
Ali Reza Akbari (photo: screenshot, social networks)
Iran has sentenced to death a former senior official in the Ministry of Defense, who holds British citizenship and was convicted of spying for the kingdom.
In a video published today (Thursday) by the IRNA news agency, it is claimed that he was involved in the assassination of the nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, in 2020, in an action attributed to Mossad at the time. Fakhrizadeh is considered in the West to be the father of Tehran's secret military nuclear program, which denied this.
The senior, Ali Reza Akbari, between 2000 and 2004, served as the deputy of Defense Minister Ali Simkhani, who currently serves as the secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security. "He was one of the most important agents of the British intelligence services in Iran, and he had access to several sensitive centers in the country," the Ministry of Intelligence accused of Iran. "Akbari knowingly and fully provided information to the enemy's spy services."
Britain's foreign minister, James Calverley, yesterday called for Akbari's release.
"Iran must stop the execution of the British-Iranian citizen Ali Reza Akbari and release him immediately," he tweeted.
"This is a step that stems from political motives on the part of a barbaric regime that completely ignores human life."
Akbari was arrested in 2019, and his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court of Iran, but in London they still hope to succeed in changing the evil of the decree.
"His release is one of our priorities and we have backed our demand to have consular access to him as a matter of urgency," said a spokesman for Britain's Foreign Office.
Iran recently increased its use of the death penalty in an attempt to suppress the hijab protests that broke out in September.
At least four protesters have been executed so far, and dozens more have been sentenced to death.
Britain is one of the biggest critics of the crackdown on protests in Iran, which it accuses its enemies of encouraging and meddling in its internal affairs.
It does not recognize the status of Iranians with Western citizenship, and many of them are held in prisons.
Akbari's case was revealed for the first time on Tuesday, when his wife, Mariam Samadi, told the Persian-language BBC network that his family had kept silent in the hope that it would be able to resolve the issue through its connections in Iran - until his fate was suddenly decided.
Samadi said Iranian authorities have informed the family that they will allow a final visit to Akbari's cell before his execution.
According to her, he was transferred to solitary confinement, where prisoners are usually transferred before being hanged.
In a recording that reached the BBC network in Farsi, Avery said that he visited Iran in 2018 and 2019, met with his friend Shimhani and gave him a shirt and perfume as a gift.
According to him, he was accused of obtaining classified information at this meeting and passing it on to a foreign country.
Akbari implied that Iranian intelligence wanted to take revenge on Britain by executing him, and asked why Simkhani himself was not arrested if he leaked classified information to him at the meeting.
According to him, the judge said that he had no authority to arrest Simhani, but he would "destroy" Akbari.
Akbari said in the recording that he was tortured and drugged to bring him to the "brink of insanity" and force him to confess.
It is not clear when his words were recorded.
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