Alwaght- Iranian Supreme Leader slammed the Saudi rulers for their refusal to offer a simple verbal apology for last year’s Mina tragedy that according to the grand Ayatollah has claimed live of more than 7,000.
In a Wednesday meeting with the families of the Iranian pilgrims who lost their lives in tragic incidents that happened during Hajj rituals in Saudi Arabia last year as well as in previous years, Iran’s Leader said the dawdling and incompetence of the Al Saud in this incident proved once more the ineptitude of this accursed wicked tree in administering and managing the Two Holy Mosques’ affairs. Ayatollah Khamenei noted: “If they are telling the truth and are innocent in this incident, they must let an Islamic-international fact-finding committee investigate the realities of the issue on the ground and shed light [on them].”
On 24 September 2016 thousands of Hajis (pilgrims) were caught in a crowed collapse on their way to Ramy al-Jamarat, symbolic stoning of Satan, and the resulting stampede.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution continued his address by posing an important question: "When a regime fails even to manage the guests of God, while earning revenues too, how it could guarantee that under similar circumstances incidents like the Mina [crush] would not happen (again)?"
Ayatollah Khamenei said: "The Iranian nation is standing courageously against Al Saud's ignorance and misguidance and expresses its Quranic and rightful positions clearly and honorably and other nations and countries must also hold the Saudis accountable courageously."
"The incompetence of the Saudis and the insecurity imposed by them against the Hajj pilgrims to the House of God indeed demonstrated that this government is not qualified to manage the Two Holy Mosques and this reality must be spread in the Muslim world and be understood," said the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
The Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah also said Iran has been the only critical voice against the deaths of pilgrims during last year’s Hajj rituals in Saudi Arabia, criticizing human rights organizations and other countries for choosing to remain silent on the issue.
“Such silence is a scourge plaguing Muslim nations. This is a catastrophe for the Islamic world,” said Ayatollah Khamenei.
Not only governments, but even scholars, political activists and the Muslim world’s elite remained tight-lipped on the martyrdom of thousands of pilgrims, said Ayatollah Khamenei, adding that failing to show sensitivity vis-à-vis the heart-breaking Mina catastrophe is “the real tragedy” of the Islamic world.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the deafening silence of human rights organizations in the face of Saudi shortcomings in managing the Hajj pilgrimage blew the lid off the “fake identity of those claiming to advocate human rights in the world.”
The Leader further urged those who have pinned their hopes on such international rights institutions to learn a lesson from “this bitter reality.”
In another part of his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei labeled supporters of the Saudi regime as complicit to the crimes of this regime in the Mina tragedy, saying: "Backed by the US, the shameless Saudi regime is impudently standing against Muslims and spilling blood in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Therefore, the US and other supporters of Riyadh are complicit in the Saudis' wrongdoing and crimes."
Ayatollah Khamenei referred to attempts by foreign-backed propaganda organs to describe the Mina crime as an example of "Shia-Sunni" or "Arab and non-Arab" dispute and conflict, adding: "The propagandists supporting the Saudi rulers are repeating this sheer lie while most of the 7,000 Mina martyrs, including a large number of Iranian martyrs, were Sunnis."
"Al Saud and murderous terrorists nurtured and groomed by them are killing people in Yemen and Syria and Iraq. Therefore, despite mischievous propaganda by Western governments, the Saudis are not supporting Arabs and the Mina incident has nothing to do with the media-fabricated conflict between Arabs and non-Arabs," added the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
"The fact of the matter is that the detested Saudis constitute a group in the Muslim world, some of whom knowingly and some unknowingly, are practicing enmity with Muslims, and the Muslim world must stand against them and disavow the masters of Saudis, i.e. the US and wicked Britain," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
Concluding his remarks, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution called on different Iranian organs including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Hajj Mission, the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization and the Foundation of Martyrs and War Veterans to fulfill and seriously pursue their assignments vis-à-vis the massive tragic incident of Mina.
