Iran has held a ceremonious funeral for its former ambassador to Lebanon, who was killed in the hajj stampede outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca in September.
The daily IRAN newspaper reported yesterday that officials identified Roknabadi through fingerprints and a DNA test. In an interview with the Tasnim news agency, Roknabadi’s daughter confirmed that the body of the former diplomat had been found among the pilgrims killed in the crush.
But suspicion has surrounded the circumstances of Roknabadi’s death, with senior officials suggesting as late as two weeks ago that he was alive and being held hostage.
His body arrived back in Tehran on Friday with his coffin draped in the Iranian flag for a funeral ceremony.
Saying that the Iranians will never forget the incident, Jaber Ansari lamented that the event started with Saudis’ mismanagement and the flaw lasted till the end, prolonging the repatriation of the missed pilgrims including Mr. Roknabadi.
Roknabadi was Tehran’s envoy to Beirut, a highly sensitive post, until past year.
The stampede created strong tensions between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia.
Deputy Foreign Minister Amir Abdolahian said earlier this month that
Tehran would persist in efforts to clarify the fate of Roknabadi and other Iranians missing in the aftermath of the crush. Iranian media did not give details of how and when he died.
Iran will conduct medical tests to establish if Roknabadi died of suffocation at this year’s hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, following widely contrasting accounts about his demise.
RB 281115
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