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Iran says 5 arrested in Saudi pilgrims poisoning case

Society Materials 8 June 2015 17:28 (UTC +04:00)
Iranian Judiciary spokesman Qolamhossein Mohseni Ejei said five people have been arrested in relation to a poisoning case in a hotel in the religious city of Mashhad,
Iran says 5 arrested in Saudi pilgrims poisoning case

Tehran, Iran, June 8

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iranian Judiciary spokesman Qolamhossein Mohseni Ejei said five people have been arrested in relation to a poisoning case in a hotel in the religious city of Mashhad, Khorasan Province which left five Saudi Arabian pilgrims dead.

Twenty-four pilgrims from Saudi Arabia were hospitalized June 7 for poisoning. Hours later five of them died.

Ejei reiterated that samplings show that the death has certainly been caused by poisoning, but it was not clear for the time what poison was involved, IRIB news agency reported June 8.

Iranian Health Minister, Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi said earlier that the Saudi Arabian citizens' poisoning incident is most likely a deliberate act.

Considering some problems that Iran has with Saudi Arabia immediate measures should be taken on the issue and the details should be shared with the public," Ghazizadeh Hashemi said, adding anyone who committed offence on the issue should be dealt with.

Meanwhile, Mashhad Prosecutor Gholam Ali Sadeghi said June 7 that the preliminary investigation rules out foul play in the deaths of the Saudi citizens.

Also, Food and Drug Organization Director Rasoul Dinarvand said investigations have shown that an illegal poison had been used as pesticide in the hotel rooms where the pilgrims stayed.

Elsewhere in his weekly press conference, Ejei said that five people have also been arrested for promoting moral and sexual misconduct in Tehran and Kerman provinces.

He said the arrested people used social media to find fans.

He also reported five other have been arrested for conducting online anti-security activities.

The number of these people may increase, he said.

Ejei further said another person who had misused people financially by using some religious fatwas on temporary marriage was also arrested.

According to the spokesman, the person has so far made 1.7 billion rials (close to $60 thousand).

Ejei went on to mention that in the past three months, about 23 hectares of illegally seized land in Alborz Province have been identified and freed.

The ownership of over one million hectares of land was illegally transferred to some certain people in 2013.

About two months ago, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei strongly criticized land grab and called for extra attention by related organizations to the case.

Edited by CN

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