Trump should own up to ‘Khashoggi-gate’: Official

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iranian Parliament Speaker's Special Aide Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said US President Trump should be held accountable before the world for his support for Saudi’s terror squad in the ‘Khashoggi-gate’ scandal.

News ID: 73205

Date: 22 October 2018 - 11:37

“Trump must be held accountable before the world for his support for Riyadh’s terror squad in the ‘Khashoggi-gate’ scandal,” wrote Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iranian Parliament Speaker's Special Aide, in a tweet on Monday.

He was referring to the murder of journalist Kamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, and US president’s continued defense of the Saudi royal family.

He went on to add, “at the same time, Saudi Arabia, as a violator of human rights in Yemen, Bahrain, and the perpetrator of Khashoggi’s murder, must be dropped from the UN Human Rights Council.”

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post who wrote critically of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's rise to power, went missing on October 2 after entering the consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents needed for his upcoming marriage. Saudi Arabia acknowledged the murder for the first time on Friday, saying he died in brawl inside its consulate in the Turkish city but made no mention of where his body is.

Saudi Arabia was elected as a member of UN Security Council in October 2016 for the second time despite its many blatant cases of human rights violations and objections from the international community. Saudi Arabia’s seat on the council expires in 2019.

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