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In April 2008, a senior British intelligence An official has traveled to Tel Aviv, Israel, to deliver an explosive revelation to his Israeli counterparts: Britain has a mole in Iran with high-level access to the country’s nuclear and defense secrets.
The spy provided valuable — and would continue to do so for years — intelligence that would be crucial in removing any suspicion in Western capitals that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and in persuading the world to impose comprehensive sanctions against Iran, according to the intelligence officials. .
The identity of that spy has always been a secret. But on January 11, the former deputy defense minister of Iran was executed Alireza Akbari on espionage charges He brought to light something that had been hidden for 15 years:
My oldest was a British mole. Akbari has long lived a double life. To the public, he was a religious fanatic and political hawk, and a top military commander of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Deputy Minister of Defense who later moved to London and went into the private sector but did not lose the confidence of Iran’s leaders. But in 2004, according to officials, he began sharing Iran’s nuclear secrets with British intelligence. He seemed to get away with it until 2019, when Iran discovered with the help of Russian intelligence officials that he had revealed a secret Iranian nuclear program deep in the mountains near Tehran, according to two Iranian sources with ties to al-Thawri. Protect.
In addition to accusing Akbari of revealing its nuclear and military secrets, Iran also said he revealed the identity and activities of more than 100 officials, most notably Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the chief nuclear scientist who was assassinated by Israel in 2020.
Akbari, who was 62 when he was executed, was an unlikely spy. Born into a conservative, middle-class family in the city of Shiraz, Mahdi’s brother said Akbari was a teenager when the Iranian revolution in 1979 overthrew the monarchy, and the war with Iraq ensued. Rekindled in his passion for the revolution, he and his older brother were conscripted, and by the time he left the front lines some six years later, he was a decorated commander of the Revolutionary Guards. Returning to civilian life, Akbari rose through the ranks, rising to deputy defense minister, and holding advisory positions on the Supreme National Security Council and other government agencies. He established close relations with two influential men: Fakhrizadeh and Ali Shamkhani, the head of the council, who was both a deputy and an advisor.
In eight short video clips broadcast on state television after his execution, Akbari gave details of his spying activities and his recruitment by Britain at an event at the British Embassy in Tehran. But later, in an audio message broadcast by BBC Persian – obtained through his family – Akbari said the confessions were coerced.
In the videos, Akbari said he was recruited in 2004 and told he and his family would be given visas to Britain. The following year, he said, he traveled to Britain and met an MI6 official. Over the next few years, Akbari said, he set up front companies in Austria, Spain and Britain to provide cover for meetings with his handlers. Iran said MI6 paid Akbar around $2.4 million. Akbari retired from his official positions in 2008, but continued to act as an advisor to Shamkhani and other officials.
In April 2008, Britain received and shared intelligence with Israel and Western agencies about Fordow, a uranium enrichment facility deep in an underground military complex, which was part of Iran’s efforts to build a nuclear bomb. Fordow’s discovery changed the world’s understanding of Iran’s nuclear program and reshaped the military and cyber plans to confront it. In September 2009, at the G7 summit, President Barack Obama, along with the leaders of Britain and France, revealed that Fordow was a uranium enrichment plant. “Fordo’s discovery fundamentally changed the international community’s attitude toward Iran,” said Norman Roll, former director of national intelligence for Iran at the CIA. He said it helped convince China and Russia that Iran was not being transparent and pushed for more sanctions. It is extremely rare for senior officials to be executed in Iran. The last time the technocrat was executed was in 1982. Britain has never publicly admitted that Akbari, who became a British citizen in 2012, was its spy. But it condemned Tehran for executing Akbari, briefly recalled its ambassador and imposed new sanctions on Iran.
The spy provided valuable — and would continue to do so for years — intelligence that would be crucial in removing any suspicion in Western capitals that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and in persuading the world to impose comprehensive sanctions against Iran, according to the intelligence officials. .
The identity of that spy has always been a secret. But on January 11, the former deputy defense minister of Iran was executed Alireza Akbari on espionage charges He brought to light something that had been hidden for 15 years:
My oldest was a British mole. Akbari has long lived a double life. To the public, he was a religious fanatic and political hawk, and a top military commander of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Deputy Minister of Defense who later moved to London and went into the private sector but did not lose the confidence of Iran’s leaders. But in 2004, according to officials, he began sharing Iran’s nuclear secrets with British intelligence. He seemed to get away with it until 2019, when Iran discovered with the help of Russian intelligence officials that he had revealed a secret Iranian nuclear program deep in the mountains near Tehran, according to two Iranian sources with ties to al-Thawri. Protect.
In addition to accusing Akbari of revealing its nuclear and military secrets, Iran also said he revealed the identity and activities of more than 100 officials, most notably Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the chief nuclear scientist who was assassinated by Israel in 2020.
Akbari, who was 62 when he was executed, was an unlikely spy. Born into a conservative, middle-class family in the city of Shiraz, Mahdi’s brother said Akbari was a teenager when the Iranian revolution in 1979 overthrew the monarchy, and the war with Iraq ensued. Rekindled in his passion for the revolution, he and his older brother were conscripted, and by the time he left the front lines some six years later, he was a decorated commander of the Revolutionary Guards. Returning to civilian life, Akbari rose through the ranks, rising to deputy defense minister, and holding advisory positions on the Supreme National Security Council and other government agencies. He established close relations with two influential men: Fakhrizadeh and Ali Shamkhani, the head of the council, who was both a deputy and an advisor.
In eight short video clips broadcast on state television after his execution, Akbari gave details of his spying activities and his recruitment by Britain at an event at the British Embassy in Tehran. But later, in an audio message broadcast by BBC Persian – obtained through his family – Akbari said the confessions were coerced.
In the videos, Akbari said he was recruited in 2004 and told he and his family would be given visas to Britain. The following year, he said, he traveled to Britain and met an MI6 official. Over the next few years, Akbari said, he set up front companies in Austria, Spain and Britain to provide cover for meetings with his handlers. Iran said MI6 paid Akbar around $2.4 million. Akbari retired from his official positions in 2008, but continued to act as an advisor to Shamkhani and other officials.
In April 2008, Britain received and shared intelligence with Israel and Western agencies about Fordow, a uranium enrichment facility deep in an underground military complex, which was part of Iran’s efforts to build a nuclear bomb. Fordow’s discovery changed the world’s understanding of Iran’s nuclear program and reshaped the military and cyber plans to confront it. In September 2009, at the G7 summit, President Barack Obama, along with the leaders of Britain and France, revealed that Fordow was a uranium enrichment plant. “Fordo’s discovery fundamentally changed the international community’s attitude toward Iran,” said Norman Roll, former director of national intelligence for Iran at the CIA. He said it helped convince China and Russia that Iran was not being transparent and pushed for more sanctions. It is extremely rare for senior officials to be executed in Iran. The last time the technocrat was executed was in 1982. Britain has never publicly admitted that Akbari, who became a British citizen in 2012, was its spy. But it condemned Tehran for executing Akbari, briefly recalled its ambassador and imposed new sanctions on Iran.
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