Sister of Iran's former Ambassador to Lebanon, Ghazanfar Roknabadi called for Saudi Arabia's accountability towards the fate of his brother who went missing during the recent Hajj pilgrimage in Mina tragedy near Mecca, IRNA reported.
'Saudi Arabia is to be blamed and it should be accountable towards the fate of my brother,' Iran Roknabadi said on Wednesday.
She said that although the Riyadh government is responsible it has created problems in the way of formation of a fact-finding committee.
Earlier today, Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian rejected the claims that Tehran's former ambassador to Beirut, Qazanfar Roknabadi, who went missing during the recent crush in Saudi Arabia is dead, and said there is a growing body of evidence proving that he is alive.
'Based on our documented evidence, eyewitnesses have seen Roknabadi alive and being transferred to a hospital, but after that that has been no reliable news about his situation and whereabouts,' Amir Abdollahian said.
In relevant remarks in October, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary and Expatriates Affairs Hassan Qashqavi said that he couldn’t reject speculations about abduction of Roknabadi in Mina incident, although he declined to confirm Roknabadi's abduction as well.
'The foreign ministry is very seriously pursuing Roknabadi's case in Saudi Arabia since he is a well-known person in the region and the foreign ministry is pursuing his situation like other pilgrims who went missing during the Mina incident,' Qashqavi said.
Asked to comment on the speculations that Roknabadi has been kidnapped in Saudi Arabia and then transferred to Israel, he said, 'These are just speculations; yet we cannot totally reject or confirm such claims.'
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