Ali Reza Akbari

Ali Reza Akbari was a dual Iranian-British citizen and a military official in Iran. Under President Khatami, he was the deputy minister of defense to Ali Shmakhani and was his consultant during his time as the secretary of the security high council. The Islamic Republic charged Mr. Akbari with spying for the UK and he was executed at the age of 61.

• <coverage-outsourcing id='49803'> <reference source='https://parsi.euronews.com/2023/01/12/iran-published-videos-of-a-former-official-of-the-ministry-of-defense-sentenced-to-death'> Euro News reported that he was arrested on the charge of espionage and was released on bail. There are many questions about his case. IranWire reported: In the coerced video confession of him that was released later, it says he was arrested in 2008, but people close to him say he was arrested in 2009 and that he was sentenced to two years suspended prison sentence because the Intelligence Ministry claimed that there were classified documents in his house. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49798'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-64295569'> In an audio file that BBC Persian received from prison, he says that he has been under arrest on made-up charges since 2009. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49819'> <reference source='https://parsi.euronews.com/2023/01/11/confirmation-of-the-death-sentence-of-alireza-akbari-the-former-deputy-of-the-ministry-of'> He was sentenced to death by the primary court. Euro News reported that Judge Salavati at Branch 15 of the revolutionary court of Tehran sentenced Mr. Akbari to death, but there is no detail about the trial procedure. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49872'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-64269739'> His death sentence was approved by the supreme court. In an interview with BBC Persian, his brother Mehdi Akbari said that the sentence was not approved initially, and the supreme court asked the Supreme National Security Council whether Mr. Akbari had access to classified documents in 2009; and if he had access and did provide them to a foreign state, would that be damaging to national security? And lastly, whether or not the UK is considered an "enemy state"? According to Mehdi Akbari, the Supreme National Security Council only stated that he had no cooperation with the council since 2007. Despite that answer, the supreme court approved the death sentence. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49873'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/articles/c3g5p3ldlp5o'> In his last days, Ali Reza Akbari sent a letter to the secretary general of the UN, asking for support. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49808'> <reference source='https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/11/uk-asked-to-intervene-iran-prepares-to-execute-ex-deputy-defence-minister-alireza-akbari-mi6'> His wife told the Guardian that her husband has been the victim of a conspiracy and power struggle in Iran. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49805'> <reference source='https://www.mizan.news/4592141/%D8%B9%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B6%D8%A7-%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%A8%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%AD%DA%A9%D9%88%D9%85-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%B4%D8%AF/'> The judiciary's Mizan website reported that Ali Reza Akbari has been sentenced to death for the crime of spying for the UK. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49804'> <reference source='https://bit.ly/3KjBM1b'> The Minister of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic released a statement on Mehr News Agency, in which he called Mr. Akbari "one of the most important infiltrators of the evil British spy agency in some of the sensitive and strategic centers of the country" and said while applying for a visa at the UK embassy in Tehran, he was flagged and "interviewed" by some of the British intelligence agents in that embassy and after some trips to Europe, he became an actual employee of the British secret service. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49822'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/articles/c6p89g7ypymo'> His wife Mariam Samadi told BBC Persian that the Iranian officials have called the family to prison for the "last visit". She said their retrial request has been registered with the supreme court. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49806'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/articles/c3g5p3ldlp5o'> The foreign minister of the UK at the time, James Cleverly, demanded the overturn of the death sentence and the immediate release of Mr. Akbari. In response to a question from BBC Persian about Mr. Akbari's situation, he said: > We support Mr. Akbari's family and have discussed his case repeatedly with the Iranian officials. Our priority is to guarantee his immediate freedom and we have requested consulate access many times. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49807'> <reference source='https://bit.ly/3zjB5i4'> The Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, released an edited video of his coerced confessions. In this nine-minute video, Ali Reza Akbari is introduced as a "veteran of 70 months in the Iran-Iraq war, and his previous positions are typed with images of him next to people whose faces have been blurred. The images present claims such as "communications with the ambassador and MI6 officer" in a diplomatic meeting. In his confessions, he says he was invited to the British embassy via a phone call and he was promised a long-term visa. He goes on to say that the British Intelligence agents sent him a laptop and said "We will make a page for you. Every once in a while check that page and when you do, we get notified." Among the people named in the coerced confession is Mehdi Fakhrizadeh, a key figure in the Islamic Republic's nuclear program who was assassinated in 2020. Mr. Akbari said he was asked about the possibility of Mr. Fakhrizadeh's involvement in a project, to which he said it is possible. His coerced confessions were aired on state TV after he had claimed in an audio message on BBC Persian that he was tortured and interrogated for 10 months and they had forced hours of confessions out of him under heavy pressure while under the influence of mind-altering drugs. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49814'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-64251776'> BBC Persian reported that it had received an audio file from Mr. Akbari, in which he explains that he was in an unknown location in a solitary cell for almost 10 months and was then transferred to Evin Prison. Regarding the coerced confessions he said: > Every room they took me to had five or six cameras with zooms. The interrogators kept going outside to get briefed and then return. In the last weeks, they took me to some massive studios three or four times. They painted my hair by force. They said it's not good for you to look like this. I thought they were gonna release me. But they were taking me to a studio." > He said that during the 10 months, he was interrogated for "three or four thousand hours . He says sometimes he would resist answering questions, but they would tell him that he is close to getting released and he can get ready to leave after a few more questions: > They said if you resist we'll have to send you to Evin dungeons and then you're gonna face an interrogator with a whip. They said Dr. Akbari, you are a shareholder of the revolution, this is beneath you. But the moment I would resist one would yell: Come take this garbage and throw him in Evin." > According to the file, "after they were done they took him to court and a solitary cell in Evin prison. Mr. Akbari says when he heard some of his confessions in court, he was flabbergasted. He couldn't believe that those were his words: > I said God damn you, how did you make these? They gave me so many drugs that I didn't know where I was. Their doctor came to visit irregularly, in the middle of the night or morning. I'd hug him and cry and tell him I don't know where I am, but he kept giving me drugs. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49874'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/articles/c3g5p3ldlp5o'> BBC Persian reported that in his audio file, Ali Reza Akbari says the basis for the Intelligence Ministry's case is a gift that he gave to the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (Shamkhani). He says: > The ministry claims that I met with Shamkhani in 2028 or 2019 and gave him a bottle of cologne and a shirt as a gift, and he gave me some national secrets that I passed on to the foreigners." In the audio file, he says that he asked the judge that if the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council or the president have given him secrets in return for a bottle of cologne, why aren't they being summoned? "The judge responded: I don't have the power to summon them, but I'll destroy you." > He says during the trials procedure he was supposed to be released on a small bail but the Ministry of Intelligence prevented it "three times." > He also said that the 9th branch of the supreme court overturned his primary sentence and requested more information from the security council about his access to the classified information, but the Ministry of Intelligence pushed the verdict through by "threatening the judge" and "exerting influence . His family said that they were not even allowed to choose an attorney for him. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49821'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-64269739'> His brother Mehdi Akbari told BBC Persian that his brother was invited to Iran by Ali Shamkhani and despite the contradictions in his case, he has been sentenced to death. According to the report, Mr. Akbari returned to Iran in July 2019, and was under complete monitoring by the Intelligence Ministry and his interrogations began in safe houses and different hotels. He then gets worried and calls Shamkhani and tells him that the questions are worrying him. Shamkhani tells him not to worry since he hasn't done anything wrong. Shamkhani also asked him whether they have asked him about working for the UK, to which he said yes he has been asked that question. His brother told BBC that "he was initially charged with collusion with enemy states, which according to the IPC, is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. But eventually, Judge Salavati changed his charge to spreading corruption on earth and issued a death sentence for him. He said in the past three years and three months, he and the rest of Mr. Akbari's family have been under a lot of pressure and all their efforts to guide the case into a fair and correct path have failed. he said his brother is in solitary in Rajaei Shahr Prison awaiting execution. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49830'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-64264979'> The British Prime Minister and Foreign Minister condemned the execution of Mr. Akbari and promised retaliation. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49810'> <reference source='https://bit.ly/42Lx17P'> He was executed. The judiciary's media center announced that he was executed on the charge of spreading corruption on earth and acts against national security by espionage for the British Intelligence Service in return for 1,805,000 Euro, 265,000 British Pounds, and 50,000 American Dollars. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49816'> <reference source='https://news.sky.com/story/alireza-akbari-nephew-speaks-of-anguish-at-execution-of-british-iranian-national-i-do-believe-it-is-a-political-game-12786633'> His niece Ramin Forghani told Sky News that his uncle's execution was a political game by the regime to distract the world from what is going on in Iran right now. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49813'> <reference source='https://parsi.euronews.com/2023/01/15/statement-of-european-union-execution-british-citizen-alireza-akbari-in-iran'> The EU released a statement condemning the execution of Ali Reza Akbari in the strongest way possible and promised to follow up on the issue. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='49818'> <reference source='https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-64295569'> The family of Mr. Akbari told BBC Persian that they still don't have a clear picture of what really happened to Mr. Akbari and everything is vague and there are many questions remaining; such as when was he executed, whether he was buried or not, or how? According to the family, the judge at the sentence enforcement office told them to come and get his body on Monday, January 16, but when the family went to Tehran's Behesht Zahra cemetery to buy a plot and make preparations for the burial, the staff at the cemetery told them that a person fitting Mr. Akbari's description was buried there two days before the official date of Mr. Akbari's execution. The cemetery staff told them that they had recorded a video of the burial "but the Intelligence Ministry took the video." The family told BBC Persian that the Ministry of Intelligence showed them a video of his burial and the location of his grave. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='50963'> <reference source='https://www.nytimes.com/fa/2023/05/01/world/middleeast/alireza-akbari-spy-iran-uk.html'> In a detailed report, the New York Times magazine published more details of Alireza Akbari's arrest and execution. The report states that some "Western authorities" confirmed that this former senior official of the ministry "had provided the UK with valuable information about Iran's nuclear and military programs for a decade." According to this report, in 2008, a senior British intelligence official on a trip to Tel Aviv told his colleagues that "Britain has a spy in Iran with high-level access to the country's nuclear and defense secrets." According to the report, the information transmitted by this spy, whose identity was not disclosed for years, removed any doubts of the Western governments regarding Iran's intention to obtain nuclear weapons and to encourage the world to impose extensive sanctions against Tehran. The New York Times has claimed in its report that Alireza Akbari is the "British spy" whose identity was hidden for 15 years. The New York Times quoted intelligence officials as saying that Alireza Akbari "started disclosing Iran's nuclear secrets to British intelligence officials in 2004." The authors of this report wrote in an interview with "two Iranian sources close to the Revolutionary Guards" that in 2019, when "Iran (with the help of Russia) discovered that the spy who revealed the existence of Iran's secret underground nuclear site in the mountains around Tehran was Mr. Akbari", his problems began. According to the report, Mr. Akbari, "in addition to revealing nuclear and military secrets, is accused of revealing the identity and activities of more than a hundred government officials", including Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a senior nuclear scientist who was assassinated by Israel in 2020. This report has stated that the British authorities have never publicly "confirmed that Ali Akbari is a spy", but quoted William Archer, the spokesman of the British Foreign Office on Iran Affairs, as saying: > Our long-standing policy is not to comment on intelligence matters. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>