In a statement on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry commemorated the 28th anniversary of the martyrdom of eight Iranian diplomats and a journalist in the terrorist attack on Iran’s Consulate General in Mazar-i-Sharif.
What follows is the text of the statement:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran commemorates the anniversary of the martyrdom of Iranian diplomats and a correspondent of the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency (IRNA) during the terrorist attack on the building of Iran’s Consulate General in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, on August 8, 1998.
Twenty-eight years ago, on this day, the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mazar-i-Sharif came under attack by armed terrorists, resulting in the martyrdom of eight dedicated members of our staff — Heidar-Ali Bagheri, Mohammad-Ali Ghiyasi, Majid Nouri Niaraki, Nasser Rigi, Noorollah Norouzi, Karim Heydarian, Rashid Pariyav Fallah, and Mohammad-Nasser Naseri — along with Mahmoud Saremi, a correspondent of IRNA.
The terrorist attack on Iran’s Consulate General in Mazar-i-Sharif and the killing of its personnel constituted a heinous crime and a flagrant violation of diplomatic and consular rights, the gravity of which cannot be diminished by the passage of time.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while commemorating the memory of our dear martyrs and extending congratulations on Journalists’ Day, stresses the need to shed light on important aspects of this terrorist crime, including identifying its perpetrators and masterminds and ensuring justice, and will make use of every opportunity and avenue available to pursue this matter.
MNA