UK asked to intervene as Iran prepares to execute ex-minister

Alireza Akbari, a dual national accused of being MI6 spy, is ‘victim of political games’, wife tells Guardian

The UK Foreign Office has been asked to intervene to prevent the imminent execution of Iran’s former deputy defence minister Alireza Akbari – who is a British-Iranian dual national – after he was told he had lost all his legal appeals against charges he had been a spy for MI6.

Akbari’s wife, Maryam, who is based in London, said she feared he would be executed within the next 24 hours. She told the Guardian: “He is entirely innocent and the victim of political games inside the country.”