Ex- Iranian envoy to Lebanon confirmed dead in hajj stampede

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Ghazanfar Rokn-AbadiIran’s former ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi, who went missing following last week’s deadly hajj stampede in Saudi Arabia, was confirmed dead Thursday, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.

Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli arrived at the house of the former ambassador to offer his condolences to his parents and inform them about the incident.

Tehran Thursday raised the death toll from the Saudi hajj disaster to 464, nearly double its previous number.

Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry says the stampede killed at least 769 pilgrims and injured 934. Pakistan, India, Indonesia and Iran all have said the toll may be higher.

Roknabadi was Tehran’s envoy to Beirut from 2010 to 2014.

Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham denied reports by some Arab media that he had traveled to Saudi Arabia under a false name.

“He entered with a normal passport to perform the hajj” and “his identity and that of other missing pilgrims have been provided to Saudi Arabia,” she said.

Roknabadi_visa to saudi arabiaIranian media published a photo of his passport with a Saudi visa.

Saudi and Iranian health ministers agreed after days of fierce debate to repatriate the corpses of Iranian pilgrims killed in the stampede.

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5 responses to “Ex- Iranian envoy to Lebanon confirmed dead in hajj stampede”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Ahhhhhh …. And he didn’t even go underground the same day. (sniffle sniffle)

  2. Something not right about this stampede.

  3. nagy_michael2 Avatar
    nagy_michael2

    I wander why he was former..was he not wanted by Iran? there were some rumors about kicking him or he was opposing certain forces in Iran. yes this stampede has an Iranian Scheme to it which will invite some hostile attacks against Saudi Arabia. why was it only Iran that is complaining about all this? since when do they care about Muslims anyway? I can’t blame Iran how for being Angry because the Saudis have not protected the people from themselves. but people died before why Iran suddenly sent so many to die? that’s a good scheme to vent your anger at Saudis and get rid of one guy that maybe they wanted him gone anyway.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      And maybe he went CIA. ;-)) It’s always been convenient to ‘lose’ a passport in a pile of corpses.
      Why is there some argument about ‘repatriating’ bodies – of a religion that says ‘Cover It Up’… before the next dawn. Some want to verify, and some do not?? 😉
      Man … we could make some ‘theories’ out of this one, for sure.

      1. nagy_michael2 Avatar
        nagy_michael2

        i would not doubt it because when he was in lebanon there were rumors the hard liners wanted to get rid of him. and eventually he was out of power anyway. so who knows the scheming Iran.. or i am not sure what info he can provide CIA. but again it could happen for sure..

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