Tehran Confirms Death of Ex-Lebanon Envoy Roknabadi in Hajj Stampede
Tehran announced on Thursday that four of its diplomats, including its former Lebanese ambassador, were killed in the hajj stampede in Saudi Arabia, reported the Iranian Students News Agency (Isna).
The news agency ended days of speculation over the fate of former envoy Ghazanfar Roknabadi, 49, who was attending the annual Muslim gathering.
Earlier on Thursday Iran nearly doubled its death toll from last week's hajj pilgrimage stampede to 464, saying there was no hope of finding pilgrims missing after the tragedy.
Until last year, Roknabadi was Tehran's envoy to Beirut, a highly sensitive post.
He served in the post from 2010 to 2014.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli visited Roknabadi's family in Tehran on Thursday and sent president Hassan Rouhani's condolences, Isna reported.
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.
Iranian media published a photo of his passport with a Saudi visa.
Saudi and Iranian health ministers agreed after days of fierce debate to repatriate Iranian pilgrims killed in the stampede.
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Source: Agence France Presse
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