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Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sept. 28 rejected claims by Saudi Arabian sources that Iran’s former ambassador to Lebanon had not entered Saudi Arabia for the hajj. The controversy over Ghazanfar Roknabadi, who was the target of an assassination attempt by Saudi nationals in 2013, has brought Iran-Saudi tensions to new heights over the stampede that left more than 226 Iranians dead and more than 300 still missing.
Saudi Arabian-funded Al Arabiya reported Sept. 28 that according to Saudi sources, no one by Roknabadi's name had entered the country through any of the official channels. The sources said, “If it is true that Roknabadi participated in the hajj this year, he entered the country under a fake name.”
