Anger about hanging Erdogan doll in Sweden after execution British-Iranian ex-politician

The execution of former British-Iranian leader Aliresa Akbari on charges of espionage in Iran has been condemned internationally. In addition to Great Britain, Germany and France also strongly criticized the execution of the death sentence. According to diplomatic circles, the Iranian ambassador to Germany has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before Monday morning.

Akbari was killed on Saturday, according to the Misan justice portal. He had been sentenced to death in an espionage trial for leaking secrets. Akbari and his family have denied the allegations.

According to media reports, Akbari was arrested in 2019. He served as deputy defense minister in Iran from 1997 to 2002. The then minister was Ali Shamcani, now secretary of the Security Council, the country’s main decision-making body. Between 2014 and 2015, Akbari accompanied the Iranian delegation to the nuclear negotiations in Vienna as a military adviser. According to the Iranian security authorities, he would have passed classified information to the British secret service in both positions.

What’s behind it?

According to observers, the case is about an internal power struggle. The real goal of the hardliners around President Ebrahim Raisi is to discredit Shamkhani, they say. He would have criticized the police violence against the demonstrators and tried to mediate.

The death of Iranian Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini in mid-September last year sparked nationwide protests in Iran. The young woman died in police custody after being arrested by the so-called vice police for violating Islamic dress codes. Since then, there have been repeated protests against the repressive course of the government and the Islamic regime.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “shocked” by Akbari’s execution. “This was a cruel and cowardly act by a barbaric regime that has no respect for the human rights of its own people,” Sunak wrote on Twitter.

It is unclear how Akbari, as deputy defense minister and military adviser to the Security Council, was able to obtain British citizenship in the first place. In Iran, people with dual nationality are not allowed to hold top political positions.

How does Europe react?

London imposed sanctions on Iran’s Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri in response to the execution. This is at the heart of Iran’s use of the death penalty, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly wrote in a statement on Twitter. The foreign ministry in Tehran in turn summoned the British ambassador and accused the government in London of interfering. Cleverly later announced that the ambassador would be temporarily recalled for consultations.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock condemned Akbari’s execution as another inhumane act by the Iranian leadership. “We stand with our British friends and will continue to closely coordinate our actions against the regime and our support for the people of Iran,” the Greens politician wrote on Twitter. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would work with other EU countries to take further action against those responsible.

The foreign ministry in Paris said the Iranian ambassador had been summoned Saturday morning to express French outrage at the execution. Iran’s repeated violations of international law should not go unanswered, especially when it comes to its treatment of foreigners, whom the country arbitrarily detains.

Britain’s human rights organization Amnesty International criticized Iran’s leadership as having “pathetically little regard” for the right to life. Akbari’s execution was particularly horrific as he was reported to have previously endured torture and other human rights abuses, including prolonged solitary confinement and coerced confessions.

(dsc/sda/dpa)