Iran Summons Saudi Diplomat over Execution of Nationals
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday summoned the Saudi chargé d'affaires in Tehran in protest over Riyadh’s move to execute three Iranian nationals, whom Saudi Arabia had convicted of drug smuggling.
At the meeting held in Tehran, head of foreign ministry’s department for social affairs voiced Iran’s strong protest at the Saudi move.
The Iranian diplomat further reminded Saudi government’s international commitments, including undertakings under 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which Iran and Saudi Arabia are member states, and asked Riyadh’s necessary measures to prevent repetition of violation of international legal undertakings towards the Iranian nationals.
The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the death sentences of the Iranians, who had been arrested while allegedly smuggling large amounts of hashish to the kingdom, were carried out in the city of Dammam, the capital of the country’s Eastern Province, earlier on Sunday.
The sentences, issued following trials at courts, had been endorsed by the kingdom’s Supreme Court as well as King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
