Iran’s execution of a dual British-Iranian national accused of spying for the UK has sparked international outrage.
The Prime Minister said the decision to put Alireza Akbari to death was “callous and cowardly.”
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced personal sanctions on Iran’s prosecutor general Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, including the freezing of financial assets and UK travel bans. He is said to drive Iran’s use of the death penalty.
In response, Iran summoned the British Ambassador in Tehran over what it called Britain’s “unconventional interventions”.
It comes after Iranian state media announced Akbari, a former Tehran defence official who was seen by the Islamic Republic as a reforming moderate, had been hanged.
France also reacted to the execution, summoning Iran’s top diplomat in Paris and warning that Tehran’s repeated violations of international law could not go unanswered.
The Islamic Republic has been rocked in recent months by anti-government protests seen as the biggest challenge to Tehran’s authority since the 1979 revolution. Iran has executed at least four people after convicting them of charges linked to the protests.
Human rights group Amnesty International called on the UK to investigate claims Akbari was tortured before his death. The group accused Iran of showing pitifully little respect for human life.
Dr Sanam Vakil, Iran expert at international affairs thinktank Chatham House, said Akbari’s death would be used by the Iranian regime to suggest a heavy outside hand was stoking anti-government unrest – linking the protests with the accusation that Western nations were trying to destabilise the Islamic republic.
“Keeping the narrative of the West being involved is a way to maintain unity among the political establishment,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today.
PM Rishi Sunak condemned Akbari’s killing, with the UK Government declaring Tehran’s actions would not go unpunished.
He said: “I am appalled by the execution of British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari in Iran. 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.”
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: “The UK has sanctioned Iran’s prosecutor general. Sanctioning him today underlines our disgust at Alireza Akbari’s execution. The prosecutor general is at the heart of Iran’s use of the death penalty. We’re holding the regime to account for its appalling human rights violations.”
Akbari was an Iranian former deputy defence minister who was arrested in 2019 and accused of espionage for MI6 related to past nuclear talks between Iran and western nations, according to reports.
He denied the charge and said he was tortured and forced to confess on camera to crimes he did not commit.
Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns yesterday called for a change in posture in dealing with Iran, which she branded a terror state.
Tehran has detained a number of dual and foreign nationals in recent years, including British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was held in 2016 and released last year after the UK settled a long-standing debt owed to Tehran.
However, at least two British-Iranians remain in detention.
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