More Clues Discovered Regarding the Fate of Rukn-Abadi

The brother of Ghazanfari Rukn-Abadi, the former Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, states that the body which Saudi officials claim is his brother's has "not been fully identified." Meanwhile, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs, announced on Tuesday, December 3, that "we have reached more clues regarding Mr. Rukn-Abadi's fate." According to IRIB News Agency, Morteza Rukn-Abadi, the brother of the missing Iranian diplomat from the Mina incident, said: "The body that the Saudis claim is my brother's has not been fully identified, and I reject their claim." He reported that two other brothers of Mr. Rukn-Abadi are in Mecca to "complete" the identification of their brother's body. On Monday, news about the identification of Mr. Rukn-Abadi's body had been published, but his brother denied these reports. Morteza Rukn-Abadi had previously stated in an interview with the Bahar newspaper that on the day of the Mina incident, two employees from the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization transferred Mr. Rukn-Abadi to an ambulance of the Saudi Ministry of Health. Aladdin Boroujerdi, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, also stated on October 20, citing officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, that Mr. Rukn-Abadi was alive during the Mina incident and was "transferred to the hospital by ambulance," but then went missing. Meanwhile, Morteza Aqa Tehrani, a representative from Tehran in Parliament, stated on November 14 in a speech that the former ambassador of Iran to Lebanon is "alive" and has been "handed over" to Israel. However, Hassan Qashqavi, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, considered the possibility of Ghazanfari Rukn-Abadi being alive as "very weak." In this context, Iran is pursuing Rukn-Abadi's status through international bodies.