‘I am appalled’: UK PM Rishi Sunak on execution of British-Iranian national

Alireza Akbari Execution: "I am appalled by the execution of British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari in Iran," Rishi Sunak said.

British prime minister Rishi Sunak called the execution of British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari by Iran a barbaric act and said it would not go unpunished. This came as Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency reported that Alireza Akbari- the former Iranian deputy defence minister who had been sentenced to death on charges of spying for Britain- was executed by hanging.

Alireza Akbari Execution: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is seen. (Reuters)

"I am appalled by the execution of British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari in Iran," Rishi Sunak said on Twitter while British foreign secretary James Cleverly said, "This was a callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people."

“This barbaric act deserves condemnation in the strongest possible terms. This will not stand unchallenged,” he added.