The nephew of a British-Iranian national who was hanged to death in Iran has expressed his shock, calling the execution a “political game”.
Official Iranian news sources reported on Saturday that Alireza Akbari, the country’s former deputy defense minister, had been executed for spying for Britainbut did not say when the death sentence was carried out.
Ramin Forghani, a political science researcher at the University of Luxembourg, told Sky News he had only fond and fond memories of his uncle and that the execution was a political game which caused terrible mental anguish his family.
Mr Forghani said he could not imagine how badly his uncle’s immediate family would feel and recalled how his relatives would meet during the Iranian New Year period.
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“He was always smiling,” he said, paying tribute. “He always tried to help anyone as much as he could, family or friends, and that’s how I will remember him.”
Mr Forghani said it had been an “absolutely terrible” time for the family. “I can only imagine this has been a horrible time for my uncle’s immediate family, wife and children,” he added.
Mr Akbari, 61, had been a minister in the reformist government of Mohammad Khatami between 1997 and 2005, and left the country for Britain in 2008 after being briefly detained and released on bail by the Iranians. He was later arrested again in 2019 and charged with spying for MI6.
Mr Forghani said the charges made no sense as his uncle had been involved in the Iranian regime since its founding, having held senior positions in the government, and that we were devoted to the country and would do nothing to help jeopardize his safety.
“I believe it’s a political game,” he said. “It would be [unthinkable] for him to try to do anything in any form to endanger the country, nor the regime. I can’t imagine his character being someone who would try to do anything against the country. It’s just not digestible.”
The only plausible explanation, Mr. Forghani said, was that his uncle had political enemies who used the system against him. He said the execution was a violation of human rights and urged continued pressure on Iran, saying no one should forget the other dual nationals imprisoned and awaiting trial.
“A barbaric act”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “appalled” by the execution, describing it as “a callous and cowardly act, perpetrated by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of its own people”.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly described it as a “barbaric act” which “deserves condemnation in the strongest possible terms…and will not go unchallenged”. He sanctioned the Attorney General of Iran, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri.
He then tweeted that the UK would temporarily recall its ambassador to Tehran for consultation.
“Drugged and Tortured”
Iranian justice claimed that Mr. Akbari was a “key spy” of the British government, according to the semi-official news agency Tasnim.
He said Iranian intelligence unmasked him by feeding him false information and described him as “one of the most important infiltrators in sensitive and strategic centers in the country”.
Mr. Akbari had claimed that he had been tortured, had been given psychotropic drugs and had been forced to confess to crimes he had not committed.
