British-Iranian dual citizen Ali Reza Akbari, who was sentenced to death in Iran, was hanged.
Mr Akbari’s family were asked to visit his prison for a “last visit” on Wednesday and his wife said he had been moved to solitary confinement.
The former Iranian deputy defense minister was arrested in 2019 and convicted of spying for Britain, which he denies.
British Prime Minister Rishi Singh said the execution was “a cowardly and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime”.
Mr Sink said Iran’s rulers had “no respect for the human rights of their people”, adding that his thoughts were “with Alireza’s friends and family”.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said the execution “will not go unchallenged”.
Meezan, the official news outlet of the Iranian judiciary, reported on Saturday that Ali Reza Akbari had been hanged, without specifying when the execution took place.
The news came after Iran posted a video of Mr Akbari earlier this week showing what appeared to be a coerced confession, and after the country’s intelligence ministry described the British-Iranian as “in Iran”. “A most important agent of the British Intelligence Service”. .
However, JEE News Persian aired an audio message from Akbari on Wednesday in which he said he was tortured and forced to confess on camera to crimes he did not commit.
The United States also joined the demands of Iran not to execute Akbari. US diplomat Vedant Patel said “his execution would be irresponsible” and condemned the charges against him as “politically motivated”.
The UK Foreign Office has supported Akbari’s family and has repeatedly raised their case with Iranian authorities. He requested immediate consular access, but the Iranian government does not recognize dual citizenship of Iranians.
‘Tortured for 3500 hours’
In Mr. Akbari’s audio message, he said he was living abroad a few years ago when he was invited to visit Iran at the request of a top Iranian diplomat who was involved in nuclear talks with world powers.
Once there, he was accused of “obtaining classified information in exchange for a bottle of perfume and a shirt” from Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Mr. Akbari alleged that intelligence agents “interrogated and tortured” him for “more than 3,500 hours.”
“Using physical and psychological methods, they broke my will, drove me insane and forced me to do whatever I wanted,” he said. “At gunpoint and death threats, they made me confess to false and corrupt claims.”
He also accused Iran of wanting to take revenge on Britain by executing me.
Hours after the audio message was broadcast, Meezan News Agency confirmed for the first time that Mr. Akbari had been found guilty of espionage, and that the Supreme Court had rejected his appeal.
Relations between Britain and Iran have soured in recent months since Britain imposed sanctions on Iran’s morality police and other top security figures in response to the country’s violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.
Iran has arrested dozens of Iranians with dual citizenship or foreign permanent residence in recent years, mostly on espionage and national security charges.
British-Iranian citizens Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anusha Ashuri were released and allowed to leave Iran last year after Britain settled debts owed to Iran.
However, at least two other Britons remain in Iranian custody, including Murad Tahabaz, who also holds US citizenship.
