TEHRAN- Iran´s judiciary chief on Monday slammed Saudi Arabia over the”heinous murder” of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and blasted Westerncountries for “double standards”.
After more than two weeks of denials, Saudi Arabia admitted over theweekend that Khashoggi was murdered in its Istanbul consulate but Riyadh´sexplanations have been seen by friends and foes alike as contradictory andevasive.
Saudi Arabia is a major regional adversary for Iran and the rivalry betweenthe two powers has intensified as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hasstamped his authority over the kingdom.
“This heinous murder further revealed the nature of Saudis, their kingdomand that young man who is seeking fame and murdering innocent people,”Sadegh Amoli Larijani was quoted as saying by the judiciary´s news agencyMizan Online, apparently referring to the crown prince.
“We can see the West´s double standards on issues regarding human rights…(they) became sensitive over the killing of this journalist and areseemingly following up, but they are silent on the crimes being committedin Yemen,” the judiciary chief added.
Saudi Arabia is involved in a war in Yemen as the head of a militarycoalition supporting the government against Shiite Huthi rebels.
The coalition has drawn heavy UN criticism for the high civilian death tollfrom its bombing campaign in Yemen.
Iran says it politically supports the rebels, but has denied allegations itis arming them.
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Iran had so far stayed quiet on the Khashoggi case, with Larijani´s remarksbeing the first official reaction as Tehran has watched the furore over theSaudi journalist´s fate plunge its rival into crisis.
“Saudi Arabia at first set out to cover up this crime with the help of theWest and recently when it was forced to acknowledge it, it claimed thatsome rogue elements committed this crime to whitewash its corrupt system”,Larijani said.
He called on the world to grasp the gravity of “Saudi state terrorism”.
On Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said in an interview withFox News that “individuals… (acting) outside the scope of theirauthority” were responsible for the “murder”, and denied Prince Mohammedwas behind it.
Britain, France and Germany have urged Riyadh to clarify how Khashoggidied, while US President Donald Trump accused Saudi Arabia of lying aboutthe killing, saying in an interview “their stories are all over the place.APP/AFP
