Tehran-January 14, 2023

Despite international outcry, Iran has carried out a death

 sentence against Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari, who holds British citizenship and is accused of spying for UK intelligence, the judiciary announced. Tehran does not recognize dual citizenship of its citizens and treats them exclusively as Iranians.

The judiciary news agency Mizan Online reported that Alireza Akbari was sentenced to death after being convicted of"corruption in the land and harming the country's internal and external security through the transfer of intelligence information".

"The activities of the British intelligence service in this case showed the value of the convict, the importance of the knowledge he had and the enemy's trust in him,"she noted.

Britain condemned the execution of Akbari, 61, stressing that it "will not go unanswered," with British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley saying that "this barbaric act deserves to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. It will not pass without a response".

For his part, prime minister Rishi Sunak called Akbari's execution"appalling", considering it "a cruel and cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime that does not respect the human rights of its people".

Akbari's case came to light this week, with the announcement by the judiciary on January 11 that he had been sentenced to death for espionage.

The "Mizan Online" website did not provide details at the time about Akbari's role or the date of his arrest or sentencing, only confirming the approval of the Supreme Court.

The next day, Iranian state media published details related to Akbari, noting that he had previously held posts in the Ministry of Defense and the Supreme National Security Council.

The official IRNA news agency reported that Akbari held several positions in the defense and security structure of the Islamic Republic, including "Assistant Minister of Defense for Foreign Relations","Adviser to the commander of the naval forces" and the head of a department at the research center of the Ministry of defense, in addition to his work "in the general secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council," without providing additional details about his roles.

The agency said that Akbari is a veteran of the war with Iraq (1980-1988), and was arrested in 1398 (according to the Solar Hijri calendar adopted in Iran, that is, between March 2019 and March 2020).

In February 2019, the state newspaper "Iran" conducted an interview with Akbari, introducing him as a "former deputy minister of defense in the government of Mohammad Khatami," a reformist who held the presidency of the Iranian republic between 1997 and 2005.

Under Khatami, Admiral Ali Shamkhani served as defense minister and is currently the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic.