British statements on the matter have not addressed the Iranian allegation that Akbari had spied for Britain.
Iranian state media aired a video on Thursday in which he said Akbari played a role in the 2020 assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was killed in a 2020 attack outside Tehran, for which officials at the time charged him with murder. Israel was blamed.
In the video, Akbari did not confess to involvement in the assassination, but said that a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh.
Iran’s state media often broadcasts alleged statements by suspects in politically charged cases.
Reuters could not establish the authenticity of the state media video and audio, or when and where they were recorded.
Akbari was a close associate of Ali Shamkhani, now secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who was defense minister from 1997 to 2005, when Akbari was his deputy.
‘3,500 hours of torture’
Reflecting Iran’s deteriorating relations with the West, London-Tehran ties have deteriorated in recent months as Iran’s efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal to which Britain is a party have stalled.
Britain has also been critical of the Islamic republic’s handling of anti-government protests sparked by the death in September of a young Iranian-Kurdish woman in custody.