An Iranian-British man sentenced to death for spying for Britain has held senior positions in Iran's security and defense apparatus, local media said on Thursday.
Alireza Akbari was sentenced "to death
for corruption on earth and for undermining the internal and external security of the country for having transmitted information
", announced Wednesday the organ of the Judicial Authority Mizan Online.
A war veteran
The IRNA news agency assures Thursday that Alireza Akbari was a veteran of the war between Iran and Iraq (1980-1988) before occupying important positions, such as "
Deputy Minister of Defense for Foreign Affairs
", head of a unit in a ministerial research center, "
advisor to the Commander of the Navy
", among others.
He also worked in the "
Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council
", IRNA said, adding that 61-year-old Alireza Akbari was arrested between March 2019 and March 2020. IRNA did not specify when. dates Alireza Akbari held these positions, or whether he was still in office when he was arrested.
The agency also released a 9-minute long video including a slideshow of photos showing Alireza Akbari with people whose faces were blurred.
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Alireza Akbari also appears in a video - published by IRNA - where he speaks to the camera and says he had contact with British officials, assuring that the latter questioned him about the nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed near Tehran in 2020 during an attack on his convoy.
Mizan Online said on Wednesday that Alireza Akbari had become a "
key spy
" for the British "
Secret Intelligence Service
" (SIS) because of "
the importance of his position
".
He provided "
important information from the country
" to this service, according to the same source.
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At the announcement of the verdict, confirmed by the Supreme Court according to Mizan Online, London called not to execute the "
British and Iranian national Alireza Akbari and to release him immediately
", through the voice of its head of diplomacy, James Cleverly , denouncing a “
politically motivated act
”.
Iran regularly announces the arrest of agents suspected of working for foreign intelligence services, including Israel.
Relations between Tehran and London have been weighed down in recent years by the arrest of several dual nationals.
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