DUBAI: Saudi Arabia slammed Tehran's allegations that it had handed over Iranian nuclear scientist, Shahram Amiri, to the United States after he disappeared in the kingdom in May, a London-based Saudi newspaper reported Wednesday.Amiri reportedly disappeared from the holy city of Medina, just three days after landing in Saudi Arabia to perform Umra, or lesser pilgrimage.
"Saudi Arabia receives over a million Iranian pilgrims every year and like all pilgrims, they are usually under the supervision of their country's official mission with regards to their housing and transportation," Asharq Alawsat quoted Saudi Foreign Ministry official, Osama Neqaly, as saying.
Negaly said that the Saudi authorities had searched for Amiri, following reports of his disappearance in Medina, but he is yet to be found.
"Results of the search have been reported to the Iranian mission and the their embassy, but we have not received an official response from Tehran until now," Neqaly said.
The U.S. State Department Tuesday declined to comment on Iranian claims that Washington abducted Amiri while he was in Saudi Arabia.
"We are aware of the Iranian claims," said department spokesman Philip Crowley. "I have no information on that."
"I'm not going to say anything else," he insisted, as reporters pressed him on the matter at a press briefing.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki earlier accused Washington of kidnapping Amiri.
"Based on existing pieces of evidence that we have at our disposal, the Americans had a role in Mr. Amiri's abduction," he said at a press conference in Farsi, which was translated into English by Press TV.
Earlier Tuesday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast acknowledged for the first time that Amiri is a nuclear scientist, something which Iranian officials have previously declined to confirm.
No comments:
Post a Comment