TEHRAN- Alireza Akbari, who served as Iran’s deputy defense minister, has been sentenced to death on spying for Britain.

In a televised-interview which was aired on Thursday, he touched upon how he was deceived and recruited by the MI6 to launch UK-orchestrated plans and ploys to infiltrate Iranian high-profile figures to obtain sensitive information.

During the video, he confessed that from the outset he was identified by the intelligence agent working in the British embassy in Tehran, saying, “In a diplomatic session, the UK ambassador along with another person approached me for an informal chitchat and then they gave me a card. After a while, I received a phone call from a person who told me the UK ambassador wanted to meet you.”

Akbari furthered, “They offered me a long-term visa in case of having close contacts with the UK embassy.” He added, “I accepted the offer and paid a visit to embassy to hold talks with the UK ambassador along with another person who I finally found out he was working for the MI6.”

“During the meeting, the MI6 agent got closer to me and said the whole story about the espionage by informing me about how to provide sensitive information to him. I was given a laptop, telling me if you open a page, we can trace you. In other words, they did this because of having a safe kind of communication,” he added.

He also mentioned that during his time spying for the UK, several intelligence agents had changed but all of them had one thing in common: infiltration. To put it more clearly, the MI6 agents tried to get sensitive information by asking him invariably about the recent events and happenings in Iran. For example, they sought for all kinds of information regarding the JCPOA, the official name for the 2015 nuclear deal.

“What they strived to get from me was pieces of information regarding Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh who was assassinated when his car was ambushed on a highway outside Tehran in November 2020],” Akbari added.

In other words, he said, the MI6 agents wanted to get aware of events surrounding all Iranian key figures.

Akbari was once arrested by the Intelligence Ministry in 2008 on espionage charges but, afterwards, was released on bail and then left Tehran to London on medical grounds.

MI6 was in fear of his detention in Iran, and then did its best to orchestrate a plan of fake stroke for him to steer clear of any potential arrest.  

He confessed that MI6 agents suggested him to pretend a fake stroke to stay more in London for the fear of his life. “They told me you will have a fake stroke, being carried to hospital and then you will be unable to fly back. Therefore, the time of your stay in London will linger. After a while, your family will travel to Britain on the excuse of visiting you.”

What is really interesting is that Akbari revealed some momentous points about UK intelligence agents, saying they comported themselves with great respect while knowing all details concerning his case.

He also underlined that all of those agents were aware of his personal beliefs, interests, and characteristics, respecting his religious beliefs.

Akbari concluded that he was swindled by MI6 agents and failed to comply with revolutionary slogans which were inscribed on his working place walls, saying, “One moment of negligence brought him misery.”

In a reaction to the death sentence against Akbari, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly requested his immediate release.

The British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, meanwhile, repeated requests for consular access to Akbari.

Akbari has been sentenced to death over disrupting Iran’s internal and external security through the transmission of information to the UK which was confirmed by the Supreme Court.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Intelligence on Wednesday, it was emphasized that Akbari was considered as a leading agent working for the British spy service (MI6), collecting sensitive information from Iran in a bid to provide it to the service.  

Akbari had worked in various positions since 1980s, including the deputy minister of defense under the presidency of Mohammad Khatami.

During the process of obtaining a visa from the British embassy in Tehran, he was flagged by the intelligence agents stationed there and then became a full-fledged employee for the British spy agency.