Alireza Akbari

Alireza Akbari
Akbari in 2007
Deputy Minister of Defence
In office
February 2000 – 24 August 2005
PresidentMohammad Khatami
MinisterAli Shamkhani
Personal details
Born(1961-10-21)21 October 1961
Shiraz, Iran
Died14 January 2023(2023-01-14) (aged 61)
Tehran, Iran
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
Citizenship Iran
 United Kingdom

Alireza Akbari (Persian: علیرضا اکبری; 21 October 1961 – c. 14 January 2023) was an Iranian politician, a senior Islamic revolutionary guard officer with Iranian and British citizenship.[1][2][3][4] He was Deputy Minister of Defence from 1998 to 2003 under General Ali Shamkhani during the presidency of reformist Mohammad Khatami.[5]

Akbari was first arrested in Iran in 2009, accused of spying for Britain.[6][7][8] Akbari was arrested again in 2019 while travelling from the United Kingdom to Iran, and sentenced to death for charges including accused of spying for Britain,[9][1][10] Mofsed-e-filarz (translating to 'corruption on Earth'),[11] stemming from accusations that Akbari committed espionage on behalf of the United Kingdom's intelligence agency, MI6.[9][12][13] Akbari and his family denied Iran's espionage charges.[14]

On 14 January 2023, the Iranian Judiciary announced that Akbari had been executed by hanging after having been convicted of spying.[15][16] Akbari's execution was met with controversy and condemnation, particularly from British political figures.[11]

  1. ^ a b Motamedi, Maziar. "Iran hangs former defence ministry official for spying for UK". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  2. ^ ItalianPostNews (14 January 2023). "Iran, Alireza Akbari executed: he was accused of being a British spy". Italian Post. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Iran's execution of British-Iranian Alireza Akbari further raises tensions with UK". The Independent. 14 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Iranian Insider and British Spy: How a Double Life Ended on the Gallows". The New York Times. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference telegraph-20230116 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Iran executes British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari accused of spying". The Guardian. 14 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Factbox: Alireza Akbari: the British-Iranian executed by Tehran". Reuters. 14 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Iran sentences ex-official, a British dual citizen, to death on spying charges". France 24. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  9. ^ a b Fassihi, Farnaz (14 January 2023). "Iran Executes Former Defense Official, a Dual U.K. Citizen, on Spy Charges". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  10. ^ Eqbali, Sune Engel Rasmussen and Aresu (14 January 2023). "Iran Hangs Alireza Akbari, Dual U.K. Citizen Accused of Spying". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  11. ^ a b Akbarzai, Sahar; Moshtaghian, Artemis (14 January 2023). "UK condemns Iran's execution of dual British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari". CNN. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Iran says ex-official had role in death of nuclear scientist". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Alireza Akbari: British-Iranian national accused of being UK spy executed in Iran". Sky News. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Alireza Akbari: Iran preparing to execute British citizen". BBC News. 11 January 2023. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference tehrantimes-20230114 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "جاسوس سرویس اطلاعات مخفی انگلیس به دار مجازات آویخته شد/ از همکاری گسترده با افسران اطلاعاتی انگلیس و اخذ مبالغ هنگفت تا سناریوی دروغ سکته‌سازی و اخذ تابعی خبرگزاری میزا" [The spy of the British Secret Intelligence Service was hanged]. Mizan (in Persian). 14 January 2023. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.