Critics Lash Out At Iran's Ideological Foreign Policy

In a tweet Wednesday, James Cleverly said the Islamic Republic “must halt the execution of British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari and immediately release him.”

He further called the move a “politically motivated act by a barbaric regime that has total disregard for human life.”

Akbari had been deputy defense minister under the reformist President Mohammad Khatami, from 1997 to 2005. He was also close to Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.

He was an advocate for the Iran nuclear deal known as the JCPOA that was eventually signed in 2015 with world powers.

A source close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has provided documents to Iran International showing that the death sentence for Alireza Akbari is an move to weaken Shamkhani’s position in the clerical regime.

It seems that President Ebrahim Raisi, Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib and Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi are exerting pressure to remove Ali Shamkhani from the post.

Iranian state media reported Wednesday that Alireza Akbari has been sentenced to death for allegedly spying for MI6.

In a statement published by Iran's Intelligence Ministry, Akbari was described as "one of the most important infiltrators in the country's sensitive and strategic centers".

He was detained more than three years ago and has been in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran since then.

Iranian state media reported Wednesday that Alireza Akbari has been sentenced to death for allegedly spying for MI6.

In a statement published by Iran's Intelligence Ministry, Akbari was described as "one of the most important infiltrators of the country's sensitive and strategic centers".

He was detained more than three years ago and has been in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran since then.

Akbari had been deputy defense minister under the reformist President Mohammad Khatami, from 1997 to 2005. He was also close to Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.

He was an advocate for the Iran nuclear deal known as the JCPOA that was eventually signed in 2015 with world powers.

Britain's Foreign Office has urged the Islamic Republic to immediately release the dual national.

However, Akbari's wife Maryam said an official asked her to visit her husband in jail for a 'final meeting' before his execution.

Reports say he has been moved to solitary confinement, indicating that his execution is imminent.

However, no details have provided about his specific charges and court proceedings.

"Our priority is securing his immediate release and we have reiterated our request for urgent consular access," a UK Foreign Office spokesperson said.

Nournews, which is affiliated to the country's top security agency reported that Akbari's death sentence has been upheld by Iran's Supreme Court.

Hamid Nouri, 61, received a life sentence last July for his leading role in the massacre of large numbers of jailed opposition members.

Nouri’s life sentence by the primary court, can keep him in prison for 25 years according to Swedish law 25 years in prison in Sweden. He has appealed the court’s verdict.

According to Iran International’s correspondent from the court of appeal, during the Wednesday session, Nouri constantly complained about not being transferred to the general ward and his lack of access to ophthalmological examination.

However, the judge said this issue has nothing to do with the court and should be discussed with the prison authorities by Nouri's lawyers.

Earlier, Majid Nouri, his son, had complained about his father's glasses and had cited the interruption of serving him tea as examples of torture.

This comes while Nouri’s colleagues in Iran execute innocent young protesters for setting fire to a trash bin.

Sweden arrested Nouri upon his arrival at Stockholm Airport in 2019 and in 2021 put him on trial over the mass execution and torture of prisoners at Gohardasht Prison in July and August 1988.

Most victims were linked to the opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) and also other leftist organizations.

Based on the index’s data published on its website, Iran’s passport grants visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 43 destinations in the first quarter of 2023.

It means that Iranians need a visa to access 156 countries globally.

Concerns about people fleeing Iran and possible destabilizing actions in other countries by Islamic Republic agents are prime reasons for widespread travel restrictions.

Visa-free countries include those where entry is possible without a visa, and with a visa on arrival.

The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations. Updated quarterly, the Henley Passport Index is considered the standard reference tool for global citizens and sovereign states when assessing where a passport ranks on the global mobility spectrum.

Before 1979 revolution which led to the ouster of Mohammad Reza Shah, Iranians could travel without visas throughout Western Europe, except Austria and Switzerland.

Meanwhile, according to the new report by Henley Passport Index, Japan ranks number one in the first quarter of 2023 with having access to 193 countries.

Singapore and South Korea shared second place in the world's most prestigious passport ranking.

Reformist newspaper Shargh wrote in a January 10 article that Expediency Council members have also become critical of the Raisi administration's inability to prepare the country's annual budget bill and the related 5-year development plan, as well as rising inflation and the devaluation of Iran's national currency.

Shargh further asked whether the conservatives are going to lose their patience in the face of the government's indecision and inaction while the country's worst economic crisis continues with an ever-increasing momentum.

At the same time, “poverty has been spreading” to large parts of the Iranian society while the government has not introduced any plan to support the low-income strata and prevent further shrinking of Iran's middle class, the daily wrote.

Conservative economist and a member of the Expediency Council Ahmad Tavakoli has recently warned the Raisi administration and Iran's conservative-dominated parliament: You may not be too far from the day when the poor pour into the streets and put an end to the current situation." He further warned: "Please do not do something that might lead to a revolt by the poor."

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Tavakoli also criticized members of Iran's parliament for approving or rejecting economic issues including the bill about capital gains tax without having read at least two pages about the matter.

Meanwhile, another member of the Expediency Council, Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghaddam, who is also a member of the right-wing Militant Clerics Association, said in an interview with Khabar Online: "The structural problem of Iran's economy is that we do not produce wealth. We simply distribute the resources. People see the situation in other countries…about better living standards."

Mesbahi added: "Iranians need to spend more money than they earn and the Iranian government's expenses are more than its revenues. As a result, both Iranian families and the Iranian government have to constantly borrow money to make ends meet."

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He said, "Unfortunately the Iranian government lacks a strategic vision and does not have the right people to pursue a strategy. Raisi used to say during the 2021 presidential election that he has a 7000-page economic plan on his desk. I asked him to show me the plan, but he did not have anything. I offered him some suggestions, but he insisted on his opposition to the FATF saying that it will give the United States more pretext for sanctioning Iran."

The Financial Action Task Force, an inter-state watchdog has blacklisted Iran’s banking for lack of adherence to anti-terror financing rules and money laundering.

Mesbahi also criticized the government for not having a long-term plan and thus furthering its business on a day-to-day basis.

In yet another development, hardliner Students of Amir Kabir University in Tehran harshly criticized Raisi's justification for rising prices in Iran. They told him they expect him to have an effective hand to do things rather than a tongue to justify everything by words.

Hardliner cleric Naser Makarem Shirazi also criticized Raisi's economic policies. He said: "It is regrettable that the officials not only do not solve economic problems such as rial’s steep fall, but they tend to totally ignore the problem."

Meanwhile, conservative commentator Naser Imani has said recently: "Government officials have still not realized the country's situation and therefore, they cannot offer any solution for the problems. Their best defense often is to say that there is nothing wrong with their performance and it is the enemy who creates all the problems." However, Imani shied away from saying that two of those who always attribute Iran's problems to foreigners' conspiracies are Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi.