Morteza Bakhtiari

Morteza Bakhtiari is an Iranian politician who served as Minister of Justice in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second cabinet from 2009 to 2013, succeeding Gholam Hossein Elham.

Before his ministerial appointment, Bakhtiari headed the State Prisons Organization from 1999 to 2004, a period marked by severe criticism of prison conditions and systematic mistreatment of political prisoners.

Bakhtiari is alleged to have served as a member of the Isfahan "Death Commission" and to have had an active role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988 while serving as head of Isfahan's prison. This places him among the officials implicated in one of the most significant episodes of mass political violence in the Islamic Republic's history.

The European Union imposed sanctions on Bakhtiari in October 2011, including a visa ban and asset freeze, citing human rights abuses during his tenure as Justice Minister. Under his watch at the Ministry of Justice, prison conditions fell well below accepted international standards.