Iranian Spokeswoman Dismisses Lockerbie Involvement Allegations
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman on Tuesday dismissed claims that Iran had been involved in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
Speaking to reporters in her weekly press conference here in Tehran, Marziyeh Afkham categorically denied Iran’s involvement in the attack.
“I’ve seen the reports (about this claim) in the media. We have denied this allegation before. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s stance on the issue of terrorism is quite clear," she said.
Afkham underlined that Iran has strongly opposed any act of terrorism, including the Lockerbie incident.
She said the raising of the Lockerbie issue again adds to obscurities about the issue.
“We once again deny Iran’s role in this issue,” the spokeswoman reiterated.
A bomb destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988, killing 270 people.
In 2001, Libyan Abdel Baset Mohamed Ali al-Megrahi was found guilty of the bombing. He died in May 2012, almost three years after the Scottish government freed him following his diagnosis with terminal cancer.
Now, years after the incident and while the only one convicted for the bombing has died, Abolghassem Mesbahi, who claims to be a former Iranian official, now living in Germany, has asserted in a documentary that the bombing was ordered by Tehran and carried out by the Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). Al Jazeera aired the documentary on Monday.
