TEHRAN – Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi on Tuesday condemned the Bahraini regime for upholding life sentences against three opposition leaders, including top cleric Sheikh Ali Salman.

“Issuing cruel sentences against them on baseless accusations shows that the Bahrain regime, backed by some foreign countries, plans to silence any peaceful opposing voices in that country,” Qassemi said, Mehr reported.

Al-Wefaq secretary-general Salman and two other senior al-Wefaq leaders Sheikh Hassan Sultan and Ali Alaswad were sentenced to life imprisonment in November. The verdicts which were upheld on Monday are final and cannot be appealed.

MH/PA