Saudi diplomatic staff return from Iran at the end of ordeal

RIYADH — Members of the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran arrived here on Tuesday evening at the end of an ordeal. They were accorded warm welcome at King Khaled International Airport by several senior officials as well as their relatives. The officials who were present at the airport included Prince Khaled Bin Saud Bin Khaled, assistant minister of foreign affairs, Azzam Al-Qain, undersecretary for protocol affairs at the ministry, and Ambassador Fahd Al-Dosary, director general of security affairs at the ministry, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Speaking to reporters after arrival, Abdullah Al-Fa’ar, consul general at the Saudi Consulate General in Mashhad, and Ishaq Al-Arini, charge d’affaires at the embassy in Tehran, thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, and Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman for the great care and concern given to the diplomatic staff and their families during their stay in Iran, especially when unfortunate incidents took place at the missions. “The functioning of the consulate in Mashhad had resumed at a private home of the consulate employees after the attacks. Members of the Saudi mission faced a lot of problems during their departure from the airport,” he said. On his part, Al-Arini said that the mission officials tried to contact the Iranian officials several times with a request to deploy security guards at the embassy building but there was no response from the Iranian side. “Subsequently, the embassy building came under attack by the protesters who threw Molotov cocktails, stormed it and stole all valuables. The protesters also set on fire the embassy vehicles and destroyed all equipment and furnishings at the embassy.” Al-Arini said the embassy staffers faced discomfort in their residences, with power outage more than once, in addition to the difficulties at the airport. “The airport staffers were seen deliberately delaying the travel procedures and intensifying baggage checking more than once unjustifiably,” he said. Al-Arini lauded the ‘honorable stance’ of the UAE embassy staff in Tehran with extending full support until their departure. “There was warm reception by the UAE officials and the Saudi embassy officials when we landed in Dubai,” he added.