Iran calls Senate report on CIA torture ‘shocking’

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham has called a US Senate report on the CIA’s torture program “shocking”.

“The content of this shocking report shows violence, extremism, and secrecy as institutionalized in the US security system,” Afkham said in a statement on Wednesday.

She voiced concerns that the “illegal processes and inhumane measures” presented in the report “still continue and there has been no guarantee from the US government to prevent the repetition of such disasters.”

Iran expects the report to pave the way for the prosecution of those responsible for the “criminal” measures, Afkham added, citing the fact that a significant number of those tortured are non-US citizens.

The landmark Senate report on the CIA’s interrogation techniques, released on Tuesday, falls into four main categories consisting of ineffective use of torture, misleading the US government about how the methods were conducted, flawed management, and extensive use of torture far more brutal than the Central Intelligence Agency had allowed anyone to believe.

The report has drawn harsh criticism from the United Nation and prominent rights groups, which have called for prosecution of those responsible for the use of torture during the George W. Bush administration.

However, the US Justice Department has rejected pursuing charges against anyone involved in the program.