Iran accuses Prince Harry of ‘war crimes’ after royal boasted of killing 25 Taliban as row erupts over Brit’s execution
PRINCE Harry has been accused of "war crimes" by the ruthless Iranian regime after boasting about the number of Taliban fighters he killed in Afghanistan.
Tehran took aim at the Duke of Sussex amid a bitter row over the execution of a UK national by the barbaric state after they accused him of being a spy for MI6.
Iran decided to invoke Harry's comments from his bombshell memoir Spare as the regime blasted back at Britain and defended their killing of Alireza Akbari.
Akbari, who held a dual UK-Iranian citizenship, was allegedly tortured and forced into a false confession.
The former defence official had denied all charges against him and had been in prison since 2019.
Harry being drawn into the major diplomatic row is another embarrassment for the wayward royal after the release of his book.
The Duke has defended his remarks about his time in Afghanistan in which he referred to Taliban fighters as "chess pieces".
He claims the comments were taken out of context - and called criticism of them a "dangerous lie".
But former military chiefs have said it was a foolish of Harry to be so brazen in his comments about the missions.
It has been warned he could be compromising his own security and turning himself into a target.
Most read in The Sun
"The British regime’s uproar and the support of some European self-proclaimed defenders of human rights for London is only a sign of their evasion and violation of law," fumed Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani.
"Britain’s encroachment on the national security of the Islamic republic of Iran has been met with a decisive response from the Iranian intelligence [and] judiciary.
"The British regime, whose royal family member, sees the killing of 25 innocent people as removal of chess pieces and has no regrets over the issue, and those who turn a blind eye to this war crime, are in no position to preach others on human rights."
Akbari was sentenced to death for "corruption on earth and harming the country's internal and external security by passing on intelligence".
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was "appalled" over the execution by Tehran.
He said: "This was a callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people."
Akbari's death has deepened the already strained relationships between Iran and the UK.
And bringing Harry into the row only complicates things further between the two states.
Harry is currently hunkering down in California as the fallout from his book continues to spread in the UK.
It comes after the evil Taliban also shamelessly blasted Harry - calling him a "loser" and saying he should face a court for his "war crimes".
Harry revealed in his new book that he flew six missions on his second tour in Afghanistan in 2012 while serving in the British Army.
He claimed he killed 25 Taliban fighters during the war while piloting his Apache attack helicopter.
The Duke was part of a British force which was helping an international coalition to battle back the Taliban terror group after they were ousted from power in 2001.
In his memoir, Harry said he gunned down Taliban militants when he flew Apache helicopters in southern in 2012.
He rewatched films of his kills from the gunship’s nose-mounted camera when he returned to base at Camp Bastion.
Harry said the technology meant: “I could always say precisely how many enemy combatants I’d killed”.
He wrote: “So my number: 25.
"It wasn’t a number that gave me any satisfaction. But neither was it a number that made me feel ashamed.
“In the heat and fog of combat, I didn’t think of those 25 as people. I’d been trained to ‘other-ise’ them.”
Former Colonel Richard Kemp said the wayward heir’s comments were a “betrayal of the people he fought alongside”.
Col Kemp said: “He is suggesting the British Army trains people, including him, not to see the enemy as human beings, which is very far from the truth.
“The Army is extremely careful to differentiate between innocent civilians and fighters on the battlefield.”
He also warned the revelations would increase threats to Harry’s safety – by inciting terrorists’ desires for revenge.
He said: “It undermines his personal security. He has shot himself in the foot.
“Fighting in Afghanistan, Harry gained a very strong reputation both in the Army and in the country.
“These comments will damage that reputation and he won’t be looked on in quite the same light, by people who thought highly of him before, including me.”
He added on Sky News: "This will incite some people to attempt an attack on British soldiers anywhere in the world.
"The impact on his own personal security is even greater."
Meanwhile Colonel Tim Collins, known for a pre-battle speech he made in Iraq, said Harry's conduct is "not how we behave in the Army".
He said: "Harry has now turned against the other family, the military, that once embraced him, having trashed his birth family."
He also accused Harry of taking a path that is "alien" to those in the UK and the Commonwealth, adding that the duke is "pursuing US identity politics and casting slurs or racism around where none exists".
"I wonder whose path he has chosen? In the end I see only disappointment and misery in his pursuit of riches he does not need and his rejection of family and comradely love that he badly needs," he said.
And Harry’s hero Ben McBean – who lost an arm and leg in Afghanistan – has also been critical of the prince’s revelations.
The ex-Royal Marine said: “Love you Prince Harry but you need to shut up!
“Makes you wonder about the people he’s hanging around with. If they were good people somebody by now would have told him to stop.”
On Good Morning Britain he added: "You just don't really speak about it. It's between the guys who were there.
"Civilians don't need to know what you were up to there.
"For him he's in America, he's got security. There's a reason why you don't get into it.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
"You kind of just know not to do it."