British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari, a former senior defence official in Iran accused of working for British intelligence, has been executed, according to Iran’s state media.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who had appealed for the release of Mr Akbari, said on Friday that Iran must not follow through with the execution and called for his immediate release.

The Iranian judiciary claimed Mr Akbari, who was deputy defence minister under former president Mohammad Khatami until 2001, was a “key spy” for the British government, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

It said Iranian intelligence unmasked the alleged spy by feeding him false information and described him as “one of the most important infiltrators of the country’s sensitive and strategic centres”.