Tehran signaled that it intends to execute Alireza Akbari, a former senior Iranian defense official and a dual British-Iranian citizen, prompting London to condemn the death sentence and demand his immediate release.
Mizan’s article described Akbari as “one of the most important agents of Britain’s spy service” and said an appeal against his execution had been rejected after he was found guilty of “corruption on earth” and “extensive actions against the country’s internal and foreign security.”
Akbari was accused of passing important information to “the enemy’s spy services,” Mizan said, referring to Britain’s foreign intelligence agency, MI6.in a recording made in prison and obtained by BBC Persian that he was forced to make the confession under threat of death. He also said he was subjected to more than 3,500 hours of interrogation, during which his “will was broken” and he was “driven to the point of insanity” by torture and psychedelic drugs.
Akbari’s wife told BBC Persian on Wednesday that he had been taken to solitary confinement and that relatives had been told any visit to Akbari would be his last. She added that the family had previously decided against publicizing news of his detention in hopes of reaching a resolution, but that Iranian media outlets had then published the news of his conviction and death sentence.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, controls the judiciary and has the final say on all political and religious matters in the country. He wields the power to pardon prisoners and commute sentences., Akbari served as deputy defense minister under President Mohammad Khatami — a pro-reform cleric who came to power in 1997 — until 2001. He also played a role in the cease-fire
that ended a bloody eight-year war with Iraq in 1988, the AP said. He lived in Britain for over 10 years,Iran has come under renewed pressure over its death penalty since hanging at least four men arrested in the anti-government protests that followed the September death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s “morality police.” The 22-year-old had been detained for allegedly wearing a head covering improperly.
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