Rouhani: Khashoggi's murder big test for advocates of human rights
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday condemned the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was critical of Saudi Kingdom, describing it as a big test for the so-called advocates of human rights , particularly the US and Europe.
Describing the murder as 'shocking', he said, 'Nobody could expect to see such an organized murder in the current centurey, and an establishment plan for such a brutal killing.'
Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Arabia, disappeared on October 2 after he entered Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia first denied any involvement in the disappearance, but in reaction to international pressure, Riyadh acknowledged that he had been killed at the Consulate.
'I don't think any country dares to commit such a crime without a green light from the US,' President Rouhani said.
'It seems that a clan that is governing a country and enjoying immunity is not afraid of committing such crimes, since it is depending on a super power's support, in such a way that even the courts of human rights are not allowed to probe it,' Rouhani said.
'How come that a big nation like Yemen has been the target of intense bombing and the world remains silent? Would the Yemeni people be bombarded in such a barbaric way if the US did not support it?' the Iranian president asked.
He also called on Turkey for an independent meticulous investigation on the murder 'so that all aspects and details of the crime, unprecedented over the past decades, are disclosed to the world.'
He also noted that stances taken on the murder by the US, Europe and other countries will reveal how sensitive they are to human rights and dignity.
Islam argues that killing one human being is tantamount to killing the human kind, Rouhani said, adding that the so-called supporters of human rights have yet to react to the murder.
'Today, the people all over the world are confused. Should they believe your claims about human rights or your announcement that you avoid to comment on the issue for 450 billion dollars,' the Iranian President said.
The US President Donald Trump has announced that Washington would not suspend the arms sales to Saudi Arabia arguing that the US would lose billions of dollars.
Certainly, more condemned than the crime and the perpetrators, is the power supporting it, Rouhani said.
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