My constituent Alireza Akbari was hanged on Saturday 14 January. He had dual UK/Iranian nationality and according to FCDO officials is thought to be the first person with British nationality to be executed since the 1980s. He had lived in the UK since 2009. In 2019 he returned to Iran for a visit and was held hostage by the regime there until his execution on fabricated charges of spying for the UK last weekend, following torture designed to extract a false confession.

His plight was brought to my attention in January 2022, when he was already under sentence of death and since then I have repeatedly been engaged with his family and the FCDO in trying to secure his release or reprieve.

I want to focus on Mr Akbari. I wrote five times to the foreign secretary in February and March last year before getting any response. Response thereafter was intermittent and sluggish, until the past week when officials have engaged actively with me and the family. I genuinely don’t know whether earlier or more effective action could have saved Mr Akbari. Clearer statements from FCDO spelling out the consequences of execution, minister to minister or government to government engagement were what the family wanted. But I know from previous experience that the FCDO approach is often too cautious or proscribed by convention to have the right effect.

If something positive can come out of this tragic and traumatic event, perhaps it could be a re-examination of the way the UK responds to the kidnap and mistreatment of its citizens and how it gears its diplomatic response to their plight as well as the perceived national interest.

Beyond the circumstances of Mr Akbari’s death and the effect on his family, the implications for UK/Iranian relations are severe. Some retaliatory steps have already been taken by FCD0 but these have been faltering and of doubtful effectiveness. I hope further effective measures can be taken to reflect the enormity of this murderous act.

Speaking and corresponding with the Akbari family over the past days and weeks and witnessing the cruelty of the regime in Tehran makes me value even more the freedoms and values we share , irrespective of party or circumstance, and admire the courage and determination of the Iranian people in resisting the regime. But we must match that with a clear-sighted condemnation of these enemies of a free society and by adopting the means to contest them.

Andy Slaughter