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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran has sentenced a former senior protection official to loss of life after convicting him on prices of spying for Britain, state-linked media reported on Wednesday.
The judiciary stated Ali Reza Akbari, who was deputy protection minister till 2001, was a “key spy” for British intelligence, the semiofficial Tasnim information company reported. It stated Iranian intelligence unmasked the spying by feeding him false info.
Tasnim additionally reported that he had spied on previous nuclear talks between Iran and Western powers. Akbari had served as deputy protection minister underneath President Mohammad Khatami, a reformist who had pushed for improved relations with the West.
For a number of years, Iran has been locked in a shadow conflict with the USA and Israel, marked by covert assaults on its disputed nuclear program. The killing of Iran’s prime nuclear scientist in 2020, which Iran blamed on Israel, indicated overseas intelligence providers had made main inroads.
Akbari, who ran a personal assume tank, has not been seen in public since 2019, when he was apparently arrested.
Authorities haven’t launched any particulars about his trial. These accused of espionage and different crimes associated to nationwide safety are often tried behind closed doorways, the place rights teams say they don’t select their very own attorneys and will not be allowed to see proof towards them.
Tasnim stated the Supreme Court docket upheld his sentence and that he had entry to an lawyer. There was no phrase on when the execution is perhaps carried out.
Akbari had beforehand led the implementation of a 1988 cease-fire between Iran and Iraq following their devastating eight-year conflict, working intently with U.N. observers.
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