Alireza Akbari, an Iranian politician who served as the Deputy Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2008 under General Ali Shamkhani during the presidency of reformist Mohammad Khatami has died.
What was Alireza Akbari cause of death? What happened to Alireza Akbari ? According to Iranian judiciary-affiliated outlet Mizan, Akbari was hanged for crimes including “corruption on earth.”
This was after he was arrested in 2019 while travelling to the United Kingdom, and sentenced to death on an allegation of espionage for MI6 and Britain. Akbari and his family denied Iran’s espionage charges.
Though Mizan did not specify when the execution took place, other media have reported that he was executed on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023.
Akbari was a member of the military organisation that implemented the 1988 cease-fire between Iran and Iraq that ended the Iran–Iraq War in 1988.
He was considered close to Ali Shamkhani, who appointed him Deputy Minister of Defence when Shamkhani was Defense Minister.
After leaveing office, Akbari moved to Britain where he became a British-Iranian dual national.
Iranian state media published a video on 12 January 2023 which argued that Akbari played a role in assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed in a 2020 attack outside Tehran.
Akbari did not confess he directly was involved in the plot, but said a British agent had asked for information about him.
Akbari was recorded in a telephone call to his family from prison saying that he was put under pressure, was under the influence of forced drugs, and that he had to make forced confessions.