Alwaght- Head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, Saeed Ohadi, said Saudi Regime prevented Iranians’ participation in this year’s Hajj, fearing that dimensions of Mina disaster would be disclosed.
Shedding lights on the reasons of not allowing Iranian to do the hajj ritual this year, Head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said: “One of the reasons for the Saudis’ refusal to accept Iranian pilgrims was the fear which they had about the disclosure of the number of Mina martyrs,”
“More than nine months since the Mina disaster, the fate of those affected from different countries remains unclear,” Saeed Ohadi added.
He also cited to the remarks of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei that Iran was the only country that had “strong voice” in Saudi Arabia to find the victims of Mina incident.
The Leader had called on Riyadh following the disaster to accept its responsibility in the tragedy, help repatriate the bodies of the dead to Iran quickly and provide treatment to the injured.
Ohadi further accused the Riyadh regime of having adopted a “wrong approach” both prior to the incident and in dealing with its aftermath.
Last month, Iran canceled its participation in this year's holy pilgrimage to Mecca after Saudi authorities refused to guarantee the safety of pilgrims and created a raft of “obstacles” instead.
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it was still reviewing the deaths of thousands of people nine months after the deadly crush during Hajj in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca.
Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people were killed in the incident, but officials at Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization say about 4,700 people, including over 460 Iranian pilgrims, lost their lives in Mina.
