Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 14: Iran announced on Saturday that they had executed a dual Iranian-British national Ali Reza Akbari who once worked for its defence ministry, despite an international outcry over his death sentence and those of others held amid nationwide protests.
However, there were rumours he had been executed days ago.
This comes as the Islamic Republic is currently being rocked by widespread protests that are escalating tensions with the West.
The execution of Ali Reza Akbari, a close associate of senior security official Ali Shamkhani, raises the possibility of an ongoing power struggle within the Iranian theocracy as it tries to control protests after Mahsa Amini’s killing in September. It also reminded them of the widespread military purges that took place right after Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Akbari was accused, without offering evidence, of being a spy for Britain’s MI-6 intelligence agency. It distributed a highly edited video of Akbari discussing the allegations resembling others that activists have described as pressurised confessions.
Akbari’s hanging drew immediate reaction from London, which along with the U.S. and others has sanctioned Iran over the protests and is supplying Russia with the bomb-carrying drones now targeting Ukraine.
“The execution of British-Iranian Ali Reza 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,” said foreign secretary James in his statement.
“This will not stand unchallenged,” he added.
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However, Iran long has announced the charge of those who travel abroad or have Western ties of spying, often using them as bargaining chips in negotiations.
Akbari was seen discussing the claims in a heavily manipulated film that was shown on Iranian state television. The video resembled earlier purported confessions that critics have referred to as forced confessions.
The BBC’s Farsi-language station broadcast an audio message from Akbari on Wednesday in which he detailed being tortured. Iran has not yet responded to the allegations of torture.
