LONDON - The execution of British-Iranian man Alireza Akbari, who had been sentenced to death, has been widely condemned. 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 his execution was a “callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime”. France summoned Iran’s top diplomat in Paris, warning that Tehran’s repeated violations of international law could not go unanswered. Meanwhile, the UK has imposed sanctions on Iran’s Prosecutor General, saying it would hold the regime to account “for its appalling human rights violations”. “Sanctioning him today underlines our disgust at Alireza Akbari’s execution,” UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. In a further diplomatic move, the foreign secretary has temporarily withdrawn Britain’s ambassador to Iran, Simon Shercliff, “for further consultations”. The Iranian judiciary’s official news outlet Mizan reported on Saturday that Mr Akbari, 61, had been hanged. It did not specify the date when the execution took place. 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. 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. His nephew, Ramin Forghani, has told the BBC of his shock at his uncle’s execution, describing it as the sign of a “desperate” regime. He said his uncle was an Iranian patriot devoted to the country - a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, consultant to the Iranian government on nuclear talks with the West and also a former deputy defence minister. Mr Akbari had moved to the UK with an investment visa and become a naturalised citizen, his family say.