An Iranian-British man, Alireza Akbari, was sentenced to death for espionage and executed by hanging, the Iranian Judicial Authority’s agency Mizan Online announced on Saturday.
According to the agency, Mr Akbari, 61, had been convicted of "corruption on earth and undermining the country’s internal and external security for passing on intelligence" to the UK.
The IRNA news agency said on Thursday that Mr Akbari was a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) before occupying official government posts, such as "Deputy Defence Minister for Foreign Affairs," the head of a unit in a ministerial research centre, "Advisor to the Commander of the Navy," among others.
He also worked in the "secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council," IRNA said, adding that Mr Akbari, 61, was arrested between March 2019 and March 2020. IRNA did not specify when Akbari held these positions or whether he was still in office at the time of his arrest.
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Mizan Online had reported on Wednesday that Alireza Akbari had become a "key spy" for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) because of "the importance of his position."
He is said to have provided “important information from the country” to the service.
Iran regularly announces the arrest of agents suspected of working for foreign intelligence services, notably from Israel. Relations between Tehran and London have been plagued in recent years by the arrest of several dual nationals.
