PLS PRIO - UK urges Iran not to execute British-Iranian dual national

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The UK urged Iran to step back Friday from a decision to execute a British-Iranian dual national.

"The Iranian regime should be in no doubt. We are watching the case of Alireza Akbari closely," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement. "Iran must not follow through with their brutal threat of execution.”

Iran sentenced the former senior official to death on charges of espionage for the British intelligence agency MI6, the judiciary-linked Mizan News said Wednesday.

Iranian media also reported that Akbari, a former deputy defense minister, was "closely connected to the British intelligence agency" and was "one of the most important infiltrators" of MI6 in the "sensitive and strategic centers of the country."

Following reports on the sentence, Britain's Foreign Office expressed support for the family of Akbari.

"Our priority is securing his immediate release and we have reiterated our request for urgent consular access," a UK Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.