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Iran’s judiciary introduced on Wednesday {that a} former deputy protection minister had been convicted and sentenced to dying on costs of spying for Britain, the place he had lived for a decade as a twin nationwide.
Alireza Akbari, who had served the Islamic Republic in senior roles till his departure to Britain, was arrested in 2019 in Iran on allegations of being a “tremendous spy” for MI6, Britain’s overseas intelligence service, and passing it categorised nationwide safety info, based on a press release launched Wednesday by Iran’s intelligence ministry.
The information of a twin nationwide susceptible to execution comes at a time of heighten tensions for Iran’s authorities each at dwelling and overseas. Iran has been roiled for months by a preferred protest motion demanding an finish to the theocratic regime, which in current weeks has executed 4 demonstrators in a widening crackdown geared toward crushing dissent.
Western international locations, together with Britain, have condemned Iran’s authorities for deploying violence in opposition to protesters and for the current executions, and have slapped focused sanctions on officers and teams concerned within the crackdown.
Britain on Wednesday demanded that Iran halt the execution of Mr. Akbari and instantly launch him, and requested consulate entry to him in Tehran. Iran’s authorities doesn’t acknowledge twin nationality and prosecutes twin nationals as Iranian residents.
“It is a politically motivated act by a barbaric regime that has complete disregard for human life,” James Cleverly, Britain’s overseas minister, tweeted on Wednesday.
Mr. Akbari’s case was made public for the primary time on Tuesday when his spouse, Maryam Samadi, informed BBC Persian that the household had remained quiet in hopes of resolving the case by their official contacts in Iran, however that her husband’s destiny had all of a sudden modified up to now 48 hours.
Ms. Samadi mentioned Iranian authorities had knowledgeable the household that they might be granted a remaining go to together with her husband earlier than his imminent execution. He had been moved to solitary confinement, she mentioned, the place prisoners on dying row are sometimes taken earlier than hanging.
In an audio message obtained by BBC Persian, Mr. Akbari mentioned he had visited Iran in 2018 and 2019, met with the secretary of Iran’s Supreme Nationwide Safety Council, Ali Shamkhani, and given him a shirt and a bottle of fragrance as items. He mentioned he was accused of acquiring categorised info in that assembly and offering it to a overseas state.
Mr. Akbari instructed that Iran’s intelligence ministry wished to “take revenge” on Britain by executing him, and requested why Mr. Shamkhani had not been arrested if he had leaked categorised info to him. Mr. Akbari served as Mr. Shamkhani’s deputy when Mr. Shamkhani was protection minister within the early 2000s. He mentioned the decide had informed him he had no energy to arrest Mr. Shamkhani however would “destroy” Mr. Akbari.
Mr. Akbari mentioned within the message that he had been tortured and given psychedelic medication that pushed him “to the brink of madness” and compelled him to admit. It was not clear when the message was recorded.
Analysts mentioned the main points of this case are scant, making it arduous to find out Iran’s motives for Mr. Akbari’s arrest and harsh sentence. They may vary from a tit-for-tat response to current Western sanctions, to a posturing anti-Western stance and political infighting amongst factions.
“Excessive-level arrests in Iran, particularly these involving overseas governments, usually have a couple of motive,” mentioned Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iran knowledgeable who teaches worldwide relations at Columbia College and a former twin nationwide prisoner in Iran. “It might be an enormous escalation to execute a British Iranian citizen.”
On Tuesday, Iran’s judiciary additionally sentenced a Belgian support employee, Olivier Vandecasteele, to 40 years in jail and 74 lashes on costs of espionage, cash laundering and foreign money smuggling. Mr. Vandecasteele, who was arrested in February of final 12 months, has denied all costs.
The Belgian overseas ministry issued a statement calling the detention arbitrary and mentioned Iran had supplied no info on the case and its ambassador can be summoned.
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