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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Saturday it executed a erstwhile high-ranking defence ministry authoritative and dual Iranian-British national, contempt planetary warnings not to transportation retired the decease sentence. The execution further escalated tensions with the West amid the nationwide anti-government protests shaking the Islamic Republic.
The hanging of Ali Reza Akbari, a adjacent state of apical information authoritative Ali Shamkhani, suggests an ongoing powerfulness conflict wrong Iran’s theocracy arsenic it tries to incorporate the demonstrations implicit the September decease of Mahsa Amini. It besides harkened backmost to the wide purges of the subject that instantly followed Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Akbari’s hanging drew contiguous choler from London, which on with the U.S. and others has sanctioned Iran implicit the protests and its supplying Russia with the bomb-carrying drones present targeting Ukraine.
“This was a callous and cowardly act, carried retired by a barbaric authorities with nary respect for the quality rights of their ain people,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires successful the United Kingdom and separately warned: “This volition not basal unchallenged.”
The United Kingdom sanctioned Iran’s prosecutor-general, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, connected Saturday nighttime “with contiguous effect” implicit Akbari’s execution.
Iran likewise summoned the British ambassador aft the execution.
Iran’s Mizan quality agency, associated with the country’s judiciary, announced Akbari’s hanging without saying erstwhile it happened. However, determination were rumors helium had been executed days earlier.
Iran has alleged, without providing evidence, that Akbari served arsenic a root for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, known popularly arsenic MI6. A lengthy connection issued by Iran’s judiciary claimed Akbari received ample sums of money, his British citizenship and different assistance successful London for providing accusation to the quality service.
However, Iran agelong has accused those who question overseas oregon person Western ties of spying, often utilizing them arsenic bargaining chips successful negotiations.
Akbari, who ran a backstage deliberation tank, is believed to person been arrested successful 2019, but details of his lawsuit lone emerged successful caller weeks. Those accused of espionage and different crimes related to nationalist information are usually tried down closed doors, wherever rights groups accidental they bash not take their ain lawyers and are not allowed to spot grounds against them.
Iranian authorities tv aired a highly edited video of Akbari discussing the allegations, footage that resembled different claimed confessions that activists person described arsenic coerced confessions.
The BBC Farsi-language work aired an audio connection from Akbari connected Wednesday, successful which helium described being tortured.
“By utilizing physiological and intelligence methods, they broke my will, drove maine to madness and forced maine to bash immoderate they wanted,” Akbari said successful the audio. “By the unit of weapon and decease threats they made maine confess to mendacious and corrupt claims.”
Iran has not commented connected the torture claims. However, the United Nations quality rights main has warned Iran against the “weaponization” of the decease punishment arsenic a means to enactment down the protests.
On Friday, State Department lawman spokesperson Vedant Patel besides criticized Akbari’s pending execution.
“The charges against Ali Reza Akbari and his sentencing to execution were politically motivated. His execution would beryllium unconscionable,” helium said. “We are greatly disturbed by the reports that Mr. Akbari was drugged, tortured portion successful custody, interrogated for thousands of hours, and forced to marque mendacious confessions.”
He added: “More broadly, Iran’s practices of arbitrary and unjust detentions, forced confessions and politically motivated executions are wholly unacceptable and indispensable end.”
Robert Malley, the U.S. peculiar envoy for Iran, said helium was “horrified” by Akbari’s execution.
“The Islamic Republic’s unjust detentions, forced confessions, sham trials and politically motivated executions indispensable end,” helium wrote online.
French President Emmanuel Macron besides decried what helium called “a heinous and barbaric act.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said connected Twitter that the execution “is a further inhuman enactment by the Iranian regime.”
Iran is 1 of the world’s apical executioners. However, it wasn’t instantly wide erstwhile the past clip of a erstwhile oregon existent high-ranking defence authoritative had been executed. In 1984, Iran executed its navy main Adm. Baharam Afzali on with 9 different subject radical connected a complaint of spying for the Soviet Union.
Iran’s authorities for months has been trying to allege — without offering grounds — that overseas countries person fomented the unrest gripping the Islamic Republic since the decease of 22-year-old Amini successful September aft her detention by the morality police. Protesters accidental they are aggravated implicit the illness of the economy, heavy-handed policing and the entrenched powerfulness of the country’s Islamic clergy.
For respective years, Iran has been locked successful a shadiness warfare with the United States and Israel, marked by covert attacks connected its disputed atomic program. The sidesplitting of Iran’s apical atomic idiosyncratic successful 2020, which Iran blamed connected Israel, indicated overseas quality services had made large inroads. Iran mentioned that idiosyncratic successful discussing Akbari’s case, though it’s unclear what existent information, if any, helium would person had connected him.
Akbari had antecedently led the implementation of a 1988 cease-fire betwixt Iran and Iraq pursuing their devastating eight-year war, moving intimately with U.N. observers. He served arsenic a lawman defence curate nether Shamkhani during reformist President Mohammad Khatami’s administration, apt further making his credentials suspicious to hard-liners wrong Iran’s theocracy.
Today, Shamkhani is the caput of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, the country’s apical information assemblage which Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei oversees. Akbari’s audio connection aired by the BBC Persian included him saying helium was accused of obtaining top-secret accusation from Shamkhani “in speech for a vessel of perfume and a shirt.” However, it appears Shamkhani remains successful his role.
The anti-government protests present shaking Iran are 1 of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.
At slightest 520 protesters person been killed and 19,400 radical person been arrested, according to Human Rights Activists successful Iran, a radical that has been monitoring the unrest. Iranian authorities person not provided authoritative figures connected deaths oregon arrests.
Iran has executed 4 radical aft convicting them of charges linked to the protests successful likewise criticized trials, including attacks connected information forces.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Lee successful Washington contributed to this report.
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