TEHRAN - Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi said on Wednesday that the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the Western-backed al-Saud family proves that claims of respect for human rights by the West is just a “mirage”.

The Al-Saud family ruling Saudi Arabia enjoys unequivocal support from the West, particularly by the Trump administration.

Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Riyadh initially denied knowledge of Khashoggi’s fate, claiming that he left the consulate. However, under a pressure from Turkey, Saudis later admitted that he was killed inside the consulate.

The killing, which the Turkish president on Tuesday said was premeditated, has caused global outage.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi said that the government should make efforts to restore a “real tranquility” to society through taking practical actions.

The statement by the ayatollah refers to the anxiety in the society over high price rises which were mostly triggered by the devaluation of national currency against foreign currencies following the U.S. exit from the 2015 nuclear agreement and restoration of sanctions against Iran.

“In the current situation the government should make any effort to restore real tranquility to the people when enemy scares people from Aban 13 [November 4],” he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to introduce the second wave of sanctions on Iran on November 4. The second round of sanctions targets Iran’s oil exports and banking transactions.

The first batch of sanctions were imposed on Iran in August.

NA/PA