Iran said Saturday it executed a British-Iranian dual national after he was sentenced to death for spying for the United Kingdom, drawing strong condemnation from Britain and international rights groups.
Alireza Akbari, 61, was hanged after being convicted of “corruption on earth and harming the country’s internal and external security by passing on intelligence”, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said. It did not say when or where the execution took place.
Mizan said Akbari, who had been arrested more than two years ago, had been a spy for Britain’s MI6 secret intelligence agency and had received around $2 million for his services.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “appalled” by the execution.
“This was a callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people,” Sunak tweeted, adding his thoughts were with “Alireza’s friends and family”.
