Ghazanfar Roknabadi

Ghazanfar Roknabadi
Ambassador of Iran to Lebanon
In office 10 May 2010 – 20 May 2014
President	Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Hassan Rouhani
Preceded by	Mohammadreza Rauf-Sheybani
Succeeded by	Mohammad Fathali
Personal details
Born	Ghazanfar Mohammad Asl Roknabadi (1966-03-21)March 21, 1966 Qom, Iran
Died	September 24, 2015(2015-09-24) (aged 49) Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Political party	Independent
Alma mater	Imam Sadiq University (M.A.) Lebanese University (Ph.D.)
Profession	Diplomat, politician
Religion	Islam

Ghazanfar Mohammad Asl Roknabadi (21 March 1966 – 24 September 2015) was an Iranian diplomat, who served as Iranian ambassador to Lebanon from 2010 to 2014. He is confirmed to have died in the 2015 Mina disaster which killed at least 2,262 people.^[1]

On 28 September 2015, an Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman commented on Saudi media reports that said there was no official record that Roknabadi had entered Saudi Arabia. She said the reports were "incorrect" and "hasty", noting that the ministry has documents showing that an ordinary Hajj visa had been approved for the deceased diplomat.^[2] Iranian media also released footage on 29 September, showing Roknabadi's presence in Mina.^[3] The passport that showed his entrance into Saudi Arabia was also released by Iranian media.^[4]

Roknabadi survived the 2013 Iranian embassy bombing.^[5]

Career

Roknabadi entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, and served in the following positions:^[6]

• Chargé d'affaires and Deputy Ambassador to Syria
• Spokesman, Iranian Gaza Reconstruction Committee
• President, Committee for the Support of the Islamic Revolution in Palestine
• First Secretary, Embassy of Iran, Lebanon
• Head of the Middle East and Persian Gulf section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Ambassador to Lebanon

References