The UK said on Saturday that it was temporarily withdrawing its ambassador from Iran after the Islamic regime executed an Iranian-British national for espionage, Report informs via the Financial Times.
Iranian state media said the regime had hanged Alireza Akbari, who had held various senior positions in Iran’s security and military institutions, after he was accused of spying for Britain’s MI6 spy agency.
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak accused Iran of a “cowardly act” in a post on Twitter and said he was “appalled” by the execution.
“This was a callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people,” he said. “My thoughts are with Alireza’s friends and family.”
UK foreign secretary James Cleverly tweeted that “we’re holding the regime to account”. The UK has sanctioned Iran’s prosecutor-general, summoned Iran’s representative in London and temporarily recalled Britain’s representative in Tehran “for consultation”, he said.
“Our response to Iran is not limited to today. We are reviewing further action,” he added.
The ramping-up of tensions comes as relations between Iran and the west are already fraught; Iranian officials have blamed western powers for stoking months of protests against the republic.
Western officials have widely condemned Tehran’s crackdown against the protests, which erupted in September, as well as the regime’s decision to sell armed drones to Moscow, which Russia has used in its war against Ukraine.
The protests erupted after Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran’s morality police after the 22-year-old was accused of not wearing her compulsory hijab properly. The protests have been one of the longest and largest eruptions of civil unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
More than 300 demonstrators, including 44 children, have lost their lives, according to Amnesty International. Four protesters have also been executed since December.