Iran Summons Saudi Ambassador Over Execution of Six Nationals

By Staff, Agencies

Iran has called in Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Tehran to express strong opposition to the execution of six Iranian nationals in Saudi Arabia, who were convicted of drug trafficking.

On Wednesday, Karimi Shasati, Director General of the Consular Affairs Office at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that the ambassador had been formally presented with a note of protest from the Islamic Republic.

Shasati emphasized that the executions were inconsistent with the progress of judicial cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and that a detailed explanation was needed.

The individuals executed had been sentenced to death years ago on drug trafficking charges, and during this time, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had continuously worked to provide consular services and seek sentence reductions for them.

Shasati condemned the executions as “completely unacceptable,” citing the failure to inform the Iranian embassy beforehand as a violation of international legal norms, including the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

A legal and consular delegation from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is scheduled to visit Riyadh to further address the issue.

According to a report by Reprieve and the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights [ESOHR], between 2010 and 2021, at least 1,243 people were executed in Saudi Arabia, with the actual figure remaining unknown due to the country’s secrecy surrounding capital punishment.