British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari, who was sentenced to death in Iran, has been executed.
Mr Akbari’s family had been asked to go to his prison for a “final visit” on Wednesday and his wife said he had been moved to solitary confinement.
The ex-deputy Iranian defence minister was arrested in 2019 and convicted of spying for the UK, which he denied.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the execution was a “callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime”.
Iran’s rulers had “no respect for the human rights of their own people” Mr Sunak said, adding that his thoughts were “with Alireza’s friends and family”.
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the execution would “not stand unchallenged”.
The Iranian judiciary’s official news outlet Mizan reported on Saturday that Alireza Akbari had been hanged, without specifying the date when the execution took place.
The news came after Iran posted a video of Mr Akbari earlier this week showing what appeared to be forced confessions, and after the country’s intelligence ministry had described the British-Iranian as “one of the most important agents of the British intelligence service in Iran”.
However BBC Persian broadcast an audio message on Wednesday from Mr Akbari in which he said he had been tortured and forced to confess on camera to crimes he did not commit.
The United States had also joined calls for Iran not to execute Mr Akbari. US diplomat Vedant Patel said “his execution would be unconscionable” and condemned the charges against him as “politically motivated”.
The UK Foreign Office has ben supporting Mr Akbari’s family and had repeatedly raised his case with Iranian authorities. It had requested urgent consular access, but Iran’s government does not recognise dual nationality for Iranians.