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Alireza Akbari: Widespread outrage after British-Iranian executed
The execution of BritishIranian man Alireza Akbari, who had been sentenced to death, has been widely condemned.
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The ex-deputy Iranian defence minister was arrested in 2019 and convicted of spying for the UK, which he denied.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his execution was a “callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime”.
France summoned Iran’s top diplomat in Paris, warning that Tehran’s repeated violations of international law could not go unanswered.
Meanwhile, the UK has imposed sanctions on Iran’s Prosecutor General, saying it would hold the regime to account “for its appalling human rights violations”.
“Sanctioning him today underlines our disgust at Alireza Akbari’s execution,” UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.
In a further diplomatic move, the foreign secretary has temporarily withdrawn Britain’s ambassador to Iran, Simon Shercliff, “for further consultations”.
The Iranian judiciary’s official news outlet Mizan reported on Saturday that Mr Akbari, 61, had been hanged. It did not specify the date when the execution took place.
Iran posted a video of Mr Akbari earlier this week showing what appeared to be forced confessions, and after the country’s intelligence ministry had described the British-Iranian as “one of the most important agents of the British intelligence service in Iran”.
However, BBC Persian broadcast an audio message on Wednesday from Mr Akbari in which he said he had been tortured and forced to confess on camera to crimes he did not commit.
Mr Akbari’s family had been asked to go to his prison for a “final visit” on Wednesday and his wife said he had been moved to solitary confinement.
His nephew, Ramin Forghani, has told the BBC of his shock at his uncle’s execution, describing it as the sign of a “desperate” regime.
He said his uncle was an Iranian patriot devoted to the country - a veteran of the IranIraq war, consultant to the Iranian government on nuclear talks with the West and also a former deputy defence minister.
Mr Akbari had moved to the UK with an investment visa and become a naturalised citizen, his family say.
But Mr Forghani said his uncle had returned to Tehran from the UK following a request from his former boss, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.
Speaking to the BBC from Luxembourg, Mr Forghani said: “He was devoted to the country, which is why he went back.
“He was involved with the system from its foundation, and would not contemplate causing harm either to the regime or the population.
“I can only speculate that there has been some power struggle at the very highest levels of the government and they have decided to create this plot against my uncle.”
Mr Forghani links the timing of his execution to the UK’s plans to designate Iran’s powerful IRGC - the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - as a terrorist organisation. “This cannot be unrelated,” he said.
Human rights group Amnesty International called on the UK to investigate claims Mr Akbari was tortured before his death. The group accused Iran of showing “pitifully little respect” for human life.
Dr Sanam Vakil, Iran expert at international affairs think-tank Chatham House, said Mr Akbari’s death would be used by the Iranian regime to suggest a “heavy outside hand” was stoking the antigovernment unrest - linking the protests with the accusation that Western nations were trying to “destabilise the Islamic republic”.
“Keeping the narrative of the West being involved is a way to maintain unity among the political establishment,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Ties between the UK and Iran have deteriorated in recent months since London imposed sanctions on Iran’s morality police and other top security figures, in response to the country’s violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.
Iran has arrested dozens of Iranians with dual nationality or foreign permanent residency in recent years, mostly on spying and national security charges.
British-Iranian citizens Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori were released and allowed to leave Iran last year after the UK settled a longstanding debt owed to Tehran.
However, at least two other British-Iranians remain in detention, including Morad Tahbaz, who also holds US citizenship.
Over 80,000 Israelis protest against Supreme Court reform
More than 80,000 Israeli protesters have rallied in Tel Aviv against plans by the new rightwing coalition government to overhaul the judiciary.
The reforms would make it easier for parliament to overturn Supreme Court rulings, among other things.
Protesters described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed changes as an attack on democratic rule.
It follows the instalment of the most religious and hardline government in Israeli history.
Rallies were also held outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem and in the northern city of Haifa, local media reported.
One group of protesters clashed with police while attempting to block a major road, Ayalon highway, in Tel Aviv.
Critics say the reforms would cripple judicial independence, foster corruption, set back minority rights and deprive Israel’s court system of credibility.
Banners referred to the new coalition led by Mr Netanyahu as a government of shame.
Among those opposed are Israel’s Supreme Court chief justice, Esther Hayat, and the country’s attorney-general.
The BBC’s Samantha Granville in Tel Aviv saw protesters draped in Israeli flags, carrying posters in Hebrew, and pictures of Mr Netanyahu with X’s over his mouth.
There was a group of young girls with red-painted hand prints over their mouths. They wanted to tell the government they won’t be quiet.
One woman, who asked not to use her name, said through her tears she was a secondgeneration Holocaust survivor.
She and her friend said they expected Mr Netanyahu to try radical changes, but never thought they would come so fast.
These are the largest demonstrations since Mr Netanyahu’s new coalition government was sworn in, in December.
Opposition parties had called on Israelis to join the rallies to “save democracy” and in protest at the planned judicial overhaul.
Under the plans announced by Justice Minister Yariv Levin earlier this month, a simple majority in the Knesset (parliament) would have the power to effectively annul Supreme Court rulings. This could enable the government of the day to pass legislation without fear of it being struck down.
Critics fear the new government could use this to scrap Mr Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial, although the government has not said it would do that.
Mr Netanyahu is being tried on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust - something he strongly denies.
The reforms would also give politicians more influence over the appointment of judges, with most members of the selection committee coming from the ruling coalition.
If it passes into law, the plan could make it easier for the government to legislate in favour of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank without worrying about challenges in the Supreme Court.
Israel has previously highlighted the power of the court to rule against it, as a way of blunting international criticism of such moves.
Source: BBC
