Britain called for the expulsion of Iranian diplomats because of the execution of Alireza Akbari, the former deputy minister of defense who was hanged last weekend. The British government pressured Iran to abandon the plan to execute him but to no avail
Following the execution by hanging of a former Iranian official accused of spying for Britain, there are calls in the UK to expel Iranian diplomats in response to the execution of the British-Iranian citizen, a relative of the deceased told The Daily Telegraph.
Alireza Akbari, the former Iranian deputy defense minister, was accused of spying for Britain. In a video that was released, he said he endured 3,500 hours of brutal torture before confessing to the charges, which led to his hanging. The 61-year-old man served in the regime of former President Mohammad Khatami between 1997 and 2005.
Akbari left Iran for Britain in 2008 after facing harassment from the country’s new regime led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In 2009, Akbari was arrested while visiting Iran on charges of espionage. His nephew Ramin Porgani told The Telegraph that his uncle’s execution “cannot go unanswered” and that Britain’s minimum response should be to expel Iranian diplomats. The British government pressured Iran to abandon the plan to execute him but to no avail.
“I woke up and saw the news. I don’t know what to say. It’s terrible. It’s shocking,” Porgani said. “It was not unexpected from this regime, but I think we all expected them to change their minds as they have with others, it was not meant to be. Diplomatically, given that a Briton was executed despite calls for his release, the least response would be to expel the staff the Iranian in Britain and bring back the British diplomats.”
“I appreciate what the British government has done, but they are dealing with a regime that does not treat human life, I hope that there will be diplomatic consequences on the part of the British government and that this will not go unanswered.”