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Journalism of Courage
Britain’s Foreign Office has urged Iran to release Alireza Akbari, a dual citizen and former Iranian government official, who is now believed to be facing execution over charges of spying for Britain, Reuters quoted the Iranian Tasnim news agency as saying.
“We are supporting the family of Mr Akbari and have repeatedly raised his case with the Iranian authorities,” a British foreign office spokesperson said in a statement. “Our priority is securing his immediate release and we have reiterated our request for urgent consular access.”
Iran does not recognise dual nationality for Iranians, though Akbari holds a British passport, according to a report in The Guardian that quoted his wife. This means that if dual nationals are detained, the Iranian government will not grant consular access to foreign officials to visit them in detention or attend their trials.
Once a deputy defence minister in the Iranian government, and a senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (an ideologically-driven branch of the armed forces of Iran), why is Akbari now facing execution? We explain.
Akbari was seen as a moderate figure in Iranian politics in the 2000s, often interacting with Western governments. He worked with UN observers when he helped in implementing a 1988 cease-fire between Iran and Iraq, following an eight-year war.
According to The Guardian’s report, he had been deputy defence minister under Mohammad Khatami, the president of Iran from 1997 to 2005.
At that time, Akbari was an advocate for the Iran nuclear deal that was eventually signed in 2015 between the west and Tehran, to limit Iran’s capabilities in terms of developing nuclear weapons. In exchange, Western countries agreed to remove certain trade-related sanctions on the country. In 2020, under US President Donald Trump, the US decided to not follow the deal and this soured relations with Iran.
Akbari spoke with The New York Times in 2003 when discussions were on regarding a protocol, to allow international agencies to inspect nuclear sites in Iran. It was signed in the same year, despite some opposition internally. He was of the view that signing the protocol would help in future discussions with the West.
He said at the time, “If we retreat every time they put pressure on us, they will continue the pressure and push us farther back until we are completely disarmed and defenseless… The protocol is only the first step, not the last… It is purely a political issue, not legal, and in line with other conventions that are aimed at keeping weaker countries weaker.”
After stepping down from his position in Iran, he moved countries and eventually settled in Britain. Akbari ran a private think tank and has not been seen in public since 2019 – when he was apparently arrested. The grounds for his arrest, according to the BBC, related to his meetings with some British government officials over the years.
According to the BBC, Akbari said he was living abroad a few years ago when a senior Iranian diplomat invited him to visit Iran. Once there, he claims he was accused of obtaining top-secret intelligence from the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security for the MI6, Britain’s intelligence agency.
His wife Maryam told The Guardian, “Ten or 12 years ago he had formal consultations with British officials and within the scope of his mission. He was not a spy, but the intelligence officials misinterpret a meeting with a university admissions officer, or an estate agent as a meeting with an agent.”
BBC Persian also got hold of some of Akbari’s audio clips, where he is allegedly speaking about being tortured and forced to make a confession. Maryam said the family had been asked to go to his prison for a “final visit” and that he had been moved to solitary confinement, the BBC reported.
The British Foreign Office said, “This is a politically motivated act by a barbaric regime that has total disregard for human life.” The case comes after Iran has carried out several other executions of demonstrators over the months-long protests in the country.
