Iran Executes British-Iranian It Accused Of Espionage For UK

Alireza Akbari, who holds dual Iranian-British citizenship and is sentenced to death on charges of spying for the UK, says in the audio file his forced confessions are a result of 3,500 hours of torture. 

According to the audio file obtained by Iran International, Akbari says he only confessed because the authorities had promised to release him. 

"After more than 3,500 hours of torture, psychedelic drugs, and physiological and psychological pressure, they took away my will. They drove me to the brink of madness. They instilled in me what they wanted and forced me to make false confessions at gunpoint and threats of death," he said. 

The regime’s state media reported January 11 that Akbari will be executed 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". There are unconfirmed reports that Akbari, who was kept in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran since 2019, has already been executed. Iran’s state media denied the rumors on Friday. 

The agents promised him freedom in exchange for forced confessions and said that if he resists, they will send him to the dungeons of Evin, where he would be whipped, Akbari claimed. 

He added that the intelligence ministry imposed its desired verdict on the judge, noting that "The prosecutor's office ordered my release with the minimum amount of bail, but the Intelligence Ministry prevented it. The Supreme Court overturned the (execution) sentence, but the Intelligence Ministry threatened the judge and reinstated the verdict."

"I was under temporary detention for more than three years with an illegal sentence, and the judge in the case who intended to annul the sentence suddenly died," he said. 

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He alleged in this audio file that there is no evidence against him while the Ministry of Intelligence claims he took information from Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and passed it on to Britain. "The Ministry of Intelligence claims that I met Shamkhani in 2018 or 2019 and I gave him a bottle of perfume and a shirt and Mr. Shamkhani gave me secret information about the country, and I passed it to foreigners.”

Akbari says that he told the judge if this allegation is true, why doesn't he summon Shamkhani and former president Hassan Rouhani, to which he replied, "I don't have the power to summon them, but I will destroy you."

Akbari had been deputy defense minister under the reformist President Mohammad Khatami, from 1997 to 2005. He was an advocate of the Iran nuclear deal known as the JCPOA that was eventually signed in 2015 with world powers. 

He was also close to Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, who is now rumored to be replaced because his former aide received the death penalty as a “British spy”. A source close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has provided documents to Iran International showing that the death sentence for Akbari is aimed at weakening 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 Shamkhani from the post.

UK foreign secretary James Cleverly Thursday called on Tehran not to execute Akbari. In a tweet, 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.” 

On Friday, he again tweeted about Akbari, saying that “The Iranian regime should be in no doubt. We are watching the case of Alireza Akbari closely. Iran must not follow through with their brutal threat of execution.” 

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

Hezbollah said in a statement that Nasrallah and Amir-Abdollahian discussed Israel’s new, hardline government and regional developments.

He also held a meeting with Secretary-General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ziyad al-Nakhalah during his trip to Lebanon on Friday. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by several countries, including the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and Australia. 

During a joint press conference with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib, Amir-Abdollahian said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has been and will remain Lebanon’s friend in hard times.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will continue supporting the Islamic resistance in Lebanon and Palestine,” he said, noting, “We consider Lebanon’s security as Iran’s and region’s security.”

For Iran’s clerical regime Lebanon means a country dominated by Hezbollah and a base from where to threaten Israel. Many Shiites see Iran as a source of financial support, but others among Christians and Sunnis resent Hezbollah and Iran’s influence.

Nevertheless, Amir-Abdollahian insisted that “Iran does not interfere in the internal affairs of Lebanon.”

Amir-Abdollahian told reporters in Beirut that he met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud during a conference in Jordan last month, noting that talks between Tehran and Riyadh are continuing and could eventually restore diplomatic relations severed since 2016. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed Iran’s claims of continuing talks.

“There was an agreement in our points of view to continue with the Saudi-Iran dialogue in what would eventually normalize relations between the two countries,” Amir-Abdollahian said about the December meeting in Jordan.

Mohammad-Mehdi Hosseini Hamedani, the Friday prayer imam of the city, reiterated that observance of hijab should be enforced strictly in society. 

Describing anyone who unveils in public as an enemy, he emphasized that all such people must be confronted by the state. "It is not possible to imagine that we are living in an Islamic country when we enter some institutions, shopping malls, pharmacies, etc.!" he said, calling on the authorities to warn shops and malls that serve women who have removed their hijab and close them down if warnings did not suffice. 

This is not the first time that the Islamic Republic’s hardliners are linking Islamic rituals to drought or natural disasters. 

Ahmad Alamolhoda, a senior firebrand cleric who is the father-in-law of President Ebrahim Raisi, had earlier called on people to say prayers for rain to solve the problem of drought in the country. 

Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri in 2019 said, "The judicial system does not allow women to unveil in public, because it causes natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes in the country.”

Yousef Tabatabai Nejad, Ali Khamenei’s representative in the central city of Esfahan (Isfahan), said in 2016 that women who unveiled and took photos “like Europeans” are the reason for the city’s river, Zayandeh-Roud (Zayanderud) to go dry and added that if this continues, its headwaters will also dry up. 

The water crisis has been getting worse in Iran for the past decade because of mismanagement in constructing unnecessary dams, encouraging water-thirsty crops like rice and political influence in water distribution.

The feud with the International Chess Federation (FIDE) occurred after Bayat wore a T-shirt bearing the main motto of the current wave of antigovernment protesters "Women, Life, Freedom" at a tournament in Iceland in October, soon after rallies began following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. 

The 35-year-old international referee, who is among a string of sports figures to clash with authorities over the mandatory hijab policy and express solidarity with anti-government demonstrators, told Reuters that "I don't think it's normal to stay quiet about this,"

She noted that the FIDE had removed her from its arbiters' commission after she angered its President Arkady Dvorkovich, a former Russian deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2018.

Bayat, who was also accused by Iran of violating hijab practice at a tournament in 2020, said Dvorkovich asked her to change her attire in Iceland. She reappeared at the tournament in a yellow suit and blue blouse: the colors of the Ukrainian flag. FIDE confirmed Dvorkovich had requested she not wear the shirt about women's rights. 

Bayat accused Dvorkovich of succumbing to geopolitics, saying, "Iran and Russia are very united in the war against Ukraine. When I was told by Dvorkovich to take off my T-shirt, that was the reason probably. My T-shirt was not political at all ... It's one of the most beautiful women's rights messages in the world."

This is Hezbollah’s first reaction related to popular anti-regime protests in Iran in four months, calling the caricatures as an “ominous” development, Iran International’s correspondent reported from Beirut.

Some Lebanese in social media have reacted to Hezbollah’s statement, asking why the pro-Islamic Republic militant group never condemned the killing of young Iranians during the protests, but condemns a French magazine exercising its media freedom.

Charlie Hebdo published its caricatures showing Khamenei as a despot and made fun of Iran’s ruling clerics. The Islamic Republic quickly condemned the publication and even lodged protests with the French government. The commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, also threatened Charlie Hebdo that has already been the target of deadly attacks by Muslim extremists in the past.

The leader of the group, Hassan Nasrallah, who is very vocal in condemning Western countries, Israel or some Arab states on various occasions, has so far remained silent over the protests in Iran.

Hezbollah’s statement accused Charlie Hebdo of attempting “to weaken the highest religious and Islamic authority in the world.” Khamenei’s propaganda machine portrays him as “the leader of Muslims”, when in fact he represents a part of the Shiite sect, which is a small minority compared with the dominant Sunni majority.

Hezbollah also urged France “to punish” the perpetrators of “the shameless insult to sanctities.”