Prince Harry's Book Revelations Gave Iran 'Ammunition' To Execute British Citizen: Ex-Commanders

Prince Harry is now receiving flak for the hanging of a British-Iranian citizen after the revelations in his book were used by Iran to defend the execution, according to a report.

In the memoir "Spare," published on Jan. 10, Prince Harry wrote that he killed 25 Taliban fighters while serving as an Apache helicopter copilot gunner in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013.

Former British military commander Col. Richard Kemp has since accused the Duke of Sussex of "giving ammunition" to Iran's propaganda machine and a way for them to justify the hang of British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari, 61, during the weekend.

"Harry should take full responsibility for giving ammunition to the murderous Iranian regime's propaganda machine," Kemp told The Daily Mail. "While all decent people will reject Iran's lies, many of their supporters will be strengthened by the ayatollahs' exploitation of the duke's ill-judged comments."

Former Royal Navy commander Rear Admiral Chris Parry agreed with Kemp's statement, adding that Prince Harry made himself a tool for Tehran.

"The Iranians are using him for propaganda purposes. Despite the clumsy words by Prince Harry, it is highly duplicitous to claim equivalence between the lawful killing of combatants in warfare and a show-trial and political murder by a dictatorial regime," he said.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the execution, calling it "a callous and cowardly act" and said Iran had "no respect for the human rights of their own people."

Iran's Foreign Ministry fired back and said Britain is "in no position to preach to others on human rights," arguing that Harry "sees the killing of 25 innocent people as the removal of chess pieces."

Akbari was previously accused of working as a spy for the British intelligence agency MI6. Iranian media alleged that Akbari provided information related to 178 Iranian figures, including the country's chief nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh who was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun in 2020.

Iran also accused Akbari of carrying out his intelligence work and disguising it as research and trade activities. Akbari had denied all allegations. He was executed for crimes including "corruption on earth."