Despite international calls to commute the death sentence of a dual Iranian-British national Ali Reza Akbari who was previously, the Iran national defense minister, Iran has announced on Saturday that it has carried out the execution.
In the midst of widespread protests that have shook the Islamic Republic, the decision has heightened tensions between the nation and the West.
The execution of Ali Reza Akbari, a close associate of senior security official Ali Shamkhani, raises the possibility of an ongoing power struggle within the Iranian theocracy as it tries to control protests after Mahsa Amini’s killing in September. It also reminded them of the widespread military purges that took place right after Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979.