Iran asks Romania to accelerate probe into death of fugitive ex-judge

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has invited the Romanian ambassador to Tehran, urging immediate action from the Romanian authorities to clarify the cause of death of a fugitive Iranian former judge in Bucharest.

According to Press TV, the ministry said in a statement Director General for Consular Affairs at Iran's Foreign Ministry Ali Asghar Mohammadi invited Romanian Ambassador to Tehran, Cristian Teodorescu, to the Ministry over the death of Gholamreza Mansouri, an Iranian citizen and former judge,.

Mohammadi gave the Romanian envoy an official note, demanding immediate action by the relevant Romanian authorities to investigate and announce the cause of death of the Iranian judge, the statement added.

According to the information Iran has received from Interpol in Bucharest, Mansouri jumped from high to his death at the hotel. Romania’s police also said Mansouri had fallen to his death in what preliminary investigation indicated was a suicide.

Circumstances around his death are not yet known, but preliminary reports indicated that Mansouri apparently fell out of a window in the Duke Hotel at 2:30 p.m. local time (11:30 GMT) on Friday.

Mohammadi stressed the Romanian government’s full responsibility in ensuring the safety of Mansouri, who had been under police surveillance.

He referred to the request of Mansouri’s family to clarify the cause of his death and also the importance of this case for public opinion, stressing the need to speed up the process of conducting medical and legal investigations in this regard.

Mohammadi also stressed on the necessity of transferring Mansouri's body to Iran.

The Romanian ambassador, for his part, said that after obtaining the opinion of the relevant authorities of his country, would inform the Iranian officials about the results of the measures taken so far by his respective country to clarify Mansouri’s cause of death.

ME