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Al-Arabia – Iran’s state news agency IRNA said on Thursday Alireza Akbari, a former defense ministry official sentenced to death for spying for Britain, passed sensitive information to MI6 about an Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated in 2020 and other top officials.
Akbari, who served as a deputy defense minister during the tenure of former president Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), was sentenced to death after being found guilty of spying for MI6, IRNA reported on Wednesday.
IRNA said Akbari “provided information about officials and important and influential people in the regime” to MI6, including Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Fakhrizadeh, widely considered to be the mastermind behind Iran’s alleged secret military nuclear program, was assassinated in an ambush near Tehran in November 2020.
Iranian officials accused Israel of being behind Fakhrizadeh’s assassination and vowed retaliation. Israel declined to comment on the killing.
Akbari, who holds dual Iranian-British citizenship, appealed the death sentence handed down him but the appeal was rejected by Iran’s supreme court, IRNA said. This suggests that his execution may occur in the near future.
Iran’s intelligence ministry described him as “one of the most important agents” of MI6, and said he had provided valuable information about Iran to the British intelligence agency.
British foreign minister James Cleverly said that the death sentence against Akbari was “politically motivated” and called for his immediate release.
“Iran must halt the execution of British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari and immediately release him,” Cleverly wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
“This is a politically motivated act by a barbaric regime that has total disregard for human life.”
