MI6 Iranian spy disclosed Fordo and Fakhrizadeh: NYT
Alireza Akbari, an Iranian spy who was recruited by MI6 had divulged to British intelligence officials the identity and the activities of over 100 Iranian officials, according to a New York Times report published on Monday.
Co-authored by Iranian-American journalist Farnaz Fassihi and Ronen Bergman, the report caused several moments of shock and awe, but the most surprising details of all were that Akbari had built close connections with Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated in 2020 by the Mossad, and Akbari had disclosed to the British intelligence officials in 2008 the intelligence on the Fordo nuclear site.
“The intelligence on Fordo that Mr. Akbari provided was one of the revelations that the British intelligence official passed on to Israeli counterparts and other friendly agencies in 2008, according to three Western intelligence and national security officials,” the report said.
It then went on to note that in the videos broadcast by Iran’s state TV on January 12, 2023, after Akbari was executed that “Mr. Akbari said he was recruited in 2004 and told he and his family would be given visas for Britain. The next year, he traveled to Britain and met with an MI6 handler, he said. Over the next few years, Mr. Akbari said he created front companies in Austria, Spain and Britain to provide cover for meetings with his handlers. Iran has said that MI6 paid Mr. Akbari nearly two million pounds, currently about $2.4 million.”
In April 2008, Britain received and shared with Israel and Western agencies the intelligence about Fordo, according to The New York Times.
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