The United Kingdom has announced on Saturday the imposition of sanctions against Iran’s Attorney General Mohamad Yafar Montazeri in retaliation for the recent executions of prisoners, in particular that of British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari.
«Sanctioning him today underlines our displeasure with the execution of Alireza Akbari,» said British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, referring to the death on Saturday of the citizen accused of spying and working for MI6, the UK intelligence service.
Cleverly 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 deplorable human rights violations,» he added.
Considered by Tehran as one of MI6’s «most important agents» and a «master of espionage,» Akbari was deputy defense minister under former Iranian President Mohammad Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005).
According to Akbari, he was allegedly drugged and tortured during his arrest and interrogated for long periods, forcing him to make false confessions.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
