UK Sanctions Iranian Attorney General Over Alireza Akbari’s Execution

14 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Kingdom announced this Saturday the imposition of sanctions against the Attorney General of Iran, Mohamad Yafar Montazeri, in retaliation for the recent executions of prisoners, especially that of the British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari.

“Sanctioning him today underscores our discomfort with the execution of Alireza Akbari,” said the British Foreign Minister, James Cleverly, referring to the death this Saturday of the citizen accused of espionage and working for MI6, the intelligence service of United Kingdom.

Cleverly has stressed that Montazeri as attorney general “is at the heart of the use of the death penalty in Iran.” “We are holding the regime to account for its appalling violations of human rights,” she added.

Considered by Tehran as one of the “most important agents” of MI6 and a true “master of espionage”, Akbari was deputy defense minister during the tenure of former Iranian President Mohammad Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005).

According to Akbari, he was reportedly drugged and tortured during his detention, as well as interrogated for long periods, forcing him to make false confessions.