A group of plaintiffs have made a formal request for the arrest of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi if he travels to Scotland to attend a climate conference.

The Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow will take place in November and some reports from Tehran indicate Raisi might attend the gathering. President Joe Biden and Pope Francis are scheduled to take part.

Raisi is accused of being part of a group in 1988 that executed thousands of Iranian political prisoners serving time. Before becoming president in June, Raisi spent decades in Iran’s notorious judicial system as a judge and prosecutor.

Human rights organizations and UN experts have demanded accountability fro the Iranian president and international investigation of his role in the killings.

Human rights activists, victims of torture and their relatives have asked the police in Scotland to investigate Raisi using the legal concept of universal jurisdiction, whereby any country can charge an individual suspected of crimes against humanity.

Another Iranian citizen is now on trial in Sweden for his role in the 1988 killings based on the same legal principle.