‘They broke my will’: Ex-Iranian official before execution on espionage charges

Akbari’s message was carried by the BBC Persian-language service on 11 January. In the audio, the former minister described being tortured by Iranian officials.

Akbari’s executionA close aide to top security official Ali Shamkhani suggests an ongoing power struggle within Iran’s democracy as it tries to contain demonstrations over the September death of Mahsa Amini.

Akbari’s execution drew immediate anger from London, which along with the US and others sanctioned Iran over protests and supplied bomb-carrying drones to Russia now targeting Ukraine.

“It was a cruel and cowardly act, perpetrated by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of its own people,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Told.

Iran’s Mizan news agency, affiliated with the country’s judiciary, announced Akbari’s execution without specifying when it took place. however, there were rumors that he had been executed a few days earlier.

Here’s Everything You Need to Know

Iran has alleged, without providing evidence, that Akbari acted as a source for Britain’s secret intelligence service, known as MI6. A lengthy statement released by Iran’s judiciary claimed that Akbari received large sums of money in London, his British citizenship and other favors for providing information to the intelligence service.

However, Iran has long accused people who travel abroad or have Western ties of espionage, often using them as bargaining chips in negotiations.

Akbari, who runs a private think tank, is believed to have been arrested in 2019, but details of his case have only emerged in recent weeks.

Iranian state television aired a heavily edited video discussing Akbari’s allegations, footage that closely resembles other claimed confessions, which activists have described as forced confessions.

Iran has not commented on the torture claims. However, the UN human rights chief has warned Iran against the “weaponisation” of the death penalty to quell protests.

Top Performance in Iran

Iran is one of the world’s top executioners. However, it was not immediately clear when a former or current high-ranking defense official was last executed. In 1984, Iran executed its navy chief, Admiral Bahram Afzali, along with nine other military men, on charges of spying for the Soviet Union.

iran protest

Iran’s government has been trying for months to allege – without offering evidence – that foreign countries fueled unrest in the Islamic republic since the 22-year-old’s death. amini After he was taken into custody by the ethics police in September. Protesters say they are angry at the collapse of the economy, heavy-handed policing and the rise of the country’s Islamic clerics to power.

For years, Iran has been locked in a shadow war with the United States and Israel marked by covert attacks on its disputed nuclear program. The 2020 assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, which Iran blamed on Israel, signaled that foreign intelligence services had made major inroads.

Akbari previously led the implementation of the 1988 ceasefire after the devastating eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, working closely with United Nations observers. He served as a deputy defense minister under Shamkhani during the administration of reformist President Mohammad Khatami, possibly making his credentials questionable for hardliners within Iran’s democracy.

Today, Shamkhani is the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the country’s top security body, overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Akbari’s audio message broadcast by BBC Persian included him saying that he had been accused of receiving top-secret information from Shamkhani “in exchange for a bottle of perfume and a shirt”. However, it appears that Shamkhani continues in her role.

The anti-government protests that have rocked Iran since the 1979 revolution pose one of the biggest challenges for the Islamic republic.

According to human rights activists in Iran, at least 520 protesters have been killed and 19,400 arrested. The country has executed four people after being convicted of charges linked to the protests in equally critical trials, including attacks on security forces.