TEHRAN – Karim Akbari Mobarakeh, the actor of the acclaimed TV series “Imam Ali (AS)” and “Mokhtarnameh”, died of COVID-19 on Thursday. He was 68.

Speaking to the Persian service of ISNA, Akbari Mobarakeh’s son, Navid, said that his father was infected with COVID-19 when he was working on the TV series project “Beheading Festival”.

Cast member Laleh Eskadari and a crew member of the project earlier tested positive for coronavirus, he noted.

Akbari Mobarakeh began his acting career in 1971 with stage directors such as Ebrahim Sokhansanj and Abollah Akbari with the plays “Akbar, the Champion Dies” by Bahram Beizai, and “Dictation” and “Angle” by Gholamhossein Saedi.

Most of his activities were focused on theatrical performances and he was cast in numerous plays by dozens of outstanding directors, including Behzad Farahani and Qotbeddin Sadeq. 

However, he was mostly renowned for the roles he played in director Davud Mirnaqeri’s series “Imam Ali (AS)” and “Mokhtarnameh”.

“Imam Ali (AS)” was about the Shia leader’s fight against ignorance after the demise of the Prophet Muhammad (S) and the events that led to his martyrdom by Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam al-Muradi in the mosque at Kufa, Iraq. Akbari Mobarakeh portrayed Ibn Muljam al-Muradi in the series. 
   
He played the role of Ahmad ibn Shomait, a companion of Mokhtar Saqafi, in “Mokhtarnameh”, which was about an uprising organized by Mokhtar Saqafi after the events of Ashura, the 10th of Muharram, to take revenge against the killers of Imam Hussein (AS).

Akbari Mobarakeh also worked on a number of movie projects, including Bahram Beizai’s “Travelers” and “Death of Yazdgerd”.

Photo: Actor Karim Akbari Mobarakeh in an undated photo.

MMS/YAW