Iran Condemns Assassination of Embassy Staffer in Syria

In a statement on Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei expressed his condolences to the family of Seyed Davoud Bitaraf, a local staffer of Iran’s embassy in Syria who was martyred after his vehicle was shot by “terrorist elements” in Damascus on December 15.

The spokesman strongly condemned the “criminal measure”, saying the body of Bitaraf has been found, identified and transferred to Iran in recent days.

Baqaei also reminded Syria’s transition government of its responsibility to identify and punish the perpetrators of the crime, saying, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is pursuing the matter seriously through various diplomatic and international channels in the appropriate manner.”