Alireza Akbari: Nephew speaks of anguish at execution of British-Iranian national – ‘I do believe it is a political game’
The nephew of a British-Iranian national who was put to death by hanging in Iran has spoken of his shock, describing the execution as a “political game”.
Official Iranian news sources reported on Saturday that Alireza Akbari, the country’s former deputy defence minister, had been executed on charges of spying for Britain, but did not say when the death sentence had been carried out.
Ramin Forghani, a researcher in political science at the University of Luxembourg, told Sky News that he only had good, kind memories of his uncle, and that the execution was a political game which had caused terrible mental anguish to his family.
Mr Forghani said he could not imagine how awful his uncle’s immediate family would be feeling, and remembered how his relatives would meet each other during the Iranian New Year period.
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“He was always smiling,” he said, paying tribute. “He would always try to help anybody as much as he could, family or friends, and that’s the memory that I will continue to have of him.”
Mr Forghani said it had been an “absolutely terrible” time for the family. “I can only imagine that it has been a horrific time for my uncle’s immediate family, his wife and children,” he added.
Mr Akbari, 61, had served as a minister in the reformist government of Mohammad Khatami between 1997 and 2005, and left the country for Britain in 2008 after being briefly detained and bailed by the Iranians. He was later arrested again in 2019 and accused of espionage for MI6.
Alireza Akbari was Iran’s former deputy defence minister
Mr Forghani said the charges made no sense as his uncle had been involved with the Iranian regime since its foundation, having held senior positions in the government, and that we was dedicated to the country and would not do anything to jeopardise its security.
“I do believe it is a political game,” he said. “It would be [unthinkable] for him to try to do anything in any shape or form to jeopardise the country, nor the regime. I can’t think of his character being somebody that would try to do anything against the country. That’s just not digestible.”
The only plausible explanation, Mr Forghani said, was that his uncle had political enemies who had used the system against him. He said the execution was a violation of human rights and urged that pressure on Iran be kept up, saying no one should forget about other dual nationals imprisoned and awaiting sentencing.
‘A barbaric act’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “appalled” by the execution, describing it as “a callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people”.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly described it as a “barbaric act” that “deserves condemnation in the strongest possible terms… and will not stand unchallenged”. He has sanctioned Iran’s prosecutor general, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri.
He subsequently tweeted that the UK would be temporarily recalling its ambassador to Tehran for consultation.
‘Drugged and tortured’
The Iranian judiciary claimed Mr Akbari was a “key spy” for the British government, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
It said Iranian intelligence unmasked him by feeding him false information, and described him as “one of the most important infiltrators of the country’s sensitive and strategic centres”.
Mr Akbari had claimed he was tortured and given mind-altering drugs and forced to confess to crimes he did not commit.
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
Read more:
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
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