News - Middle East: Iran has summoned Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Tehran to strongly protest the execution of six jailed Iranian nationals in the Arab kingdom over alleged drug trafficking.

While announcing the news on Wednesday, the Director General of the Consular Affairs Office at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Karimi Shasati, said the ambassador received a formal note of strong protest from the Islamic Republic.

He added that the Saudi ambassador was told that the executions were incompatible with the overall trajectory of judicial cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, emphasizing the need for an explanation.

“These individuals had been sentenced to death by the Saudi judiciary several years ago on drug trafficking charges. During this time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made continuous efforts to provide consular services to them and seek to commute their sentences," Shasati said.

To proceed with the executions without any prior notice to the Iranian embassy is "completely unacceptable" and a violation of international legal standards, including the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, he added. 

The official also said that a legal and consular delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is set to travel to Riyadh to follow up on the matter.

According to a report by Reprieve and the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), published last year, at least 1,243 people were executed between 2010 and 2021 in Saudi Arabia, making the Arab kingdom one of the most rampant executioners in the world.

The international rights groups emphasized that the actual number of people put to death in the country is unknown because Saudi authorities do not provide any information about capital trials and keep them shrouded in secrecy.

Source: Press TV