ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The family of Iran’s former ambassador to Lebanon who has been missing in Saudi Arabia since the deadly Hajj stampede are visiting Riyadh to inquire about his fate and possibly find his body, said Iranian foreign ministry Saturday.
Ghazanfar Roknabadi who was Iran’s ambassador to Beirut 2010-2014 has been missing since the fatal stampede during the annual Islamic pilgrimage at Mina that killed more than 1,000 people in September.
Hassan Qashqawi, in charge of consular affairs at the Iranian foreign ministry told his country’s state TV that Roknabadi’s family has been issued travel visas to visit Saudi Arabia and investigate the disappearance of the former ambassador.
A week after the incident Tehran said that more than 460 of the dead were Iranian nationals.
Roknabadi’s disappearance however has caused more controversy inside Iran, with some politicians suggesting that the former ambassador was kidnapped by Saudi officials.
An Iranian member of parliament, Morteza Aghatehrani recently told the media that Roknabadi was kidnapped by Saudi Arabia and handed over to Israel.
The foreign ministry for its part found this an unlikely scenario.
“I personally find the possibility of the abduction of Mr. Roknabadi very weak, but in the end this is a piece of news and it could be true or false,” said Qashqawi of the consular affairs.
Dozens of Iranian pilgrims are still missing and Tehran officials say their efforts to locate and repatriate them to Iran have led nowhere due noncooperation by Saudi authorities.
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