The Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the Islamic Republic 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 in a Wednesday meeting with the families of the Iranian pilgrims who lost their lives in a human crush during last year’s Hajj rituals near Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Press TV reported.
The Leader further stated that Saudi rulers were so “shameless” that they even refused to offer an apology to the Muslim countries that lost their citizens in the tragedy.
The leader noted that even if no deliberation had been involved, such mismanagement and incompetence by a government and political system amounted to a crime.
Ayatollah Khamenei also said that the Saudi rulers' failure to guarantee the security of Hajj pilgrims proved that the kingdom did not merit the custodianship of Islam’s two Holy Mosques, adding this “reality should be propagated and well understood in the Muslim world.”
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 a “real scourge” for the Islamic world.
“Deafening silence”
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.”
Riyadh’s atrocities in region
“The shameless Saudi regime, with the backing of the United States, is standing against Muslims and is spilling blood in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Bahrain; therefore, America and other suporters of Riyadh are complicit in Saudi crimes,” the Leader stressed.
Ayatollah Khamenei further called on the Iranian administration, particularly the Foreign Ministry and Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, to fulfill their responsibilities and follow up on the tragic incident.
At least 464 Iranian pilgrims lost their lives during the stampede, which occurred after two large masses of pilgrims converged at a crossroads in Mina near Mecca during Hajj rituals on September 24, 2015
Riyadh has refused to update the death toll of 770 it released days after the incident.
However, Iran, which had the greatest number of deaths among foreign nationals, has put the death toll at about 4,700.
“The Iranian government and the Islamic Republic’s establishment will never let the blood of martyrs go wasted and will keep up its legal and political efforts to restore their rights,” President Hassan Rouhani asserted.
Rouhani further slammed Saudi rulers for creating obstacles to prevent the dispatch of Iranian pilgrims to this year’s Hajj rituals.
Hajj serves as a time when the Muslim world’s interests and unity should be paraded to the world, but the Saudi kingdom, “has even stopped short of verbally apologizing to Muslims” for the Mina tragedy, Rouhani added.
“Such silence is a scourge plaguing Muslim nations. This is a catastrophe for the Islamic world,” said Ayatollah Khamenei in a Wednesday meeting with the families of the Iranian pilgrims who lost their lives in a human crush during last year’s Hajj rituals near Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Press TV reported.
The Leader further stated that Saudi rulers were so “shameless” that they even refused to offer an apology to the Muslim countries that lost their citizens in the tragedy.
The leader noted that even if no deliberation had been involved, such mismanagement and incompetence by a government and political system amounted to a crime.
Ayatollah Khamenei also said that the Saudi rulers' failure to guarantee the security of Hajj pilgrims proved that the kingdom did not merit the custodianship of Islam’s two Holy Mosques, adding this “reality should be propagated and well understood in the Muslim world.”
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 a “real scourge” for the Islamic world.
“Deafening silence”
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.”
Riyadh’s atrocities in region
“The shameless Saudi regime, with the backing of the United States, is standing against Muslims and is spilling blood in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Bahrain; therefore, America and other suporters of Riyadh are complicit in Saudi crimes,” the Leader stressed.
Ayatollah Khamenei further called on the Iranian administration, particularly the Foreign Ministry and Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, to fulfill their responsibilities and follow up on the tragic incident.
At least 464 Iranian pilgrims lost their lives during the stampede, which occurred after two large masses of pilgrims converged at a crossroads in Mina near Mecca during Hajj rituals on September 24, 2015
Riyadh has refused to update the death toll of 770 it released days after the incident.
However, Iran, which had the greatest number of deaths among foreign nationals, has put the death toll at about 4,700.
“The Iranian government and the Islamic Republic’s establishment will never let the blood of martyrs go wasted and will keep up its legal and political efforts to restore their rights,” President Hassan Rouhani asserted.
Rouhani further slammed Saudi rulers for creating obstacles to prevent the dispatch of Iranian pilgrims to this year’s Hajj rituals.
Hajj serves as a time when the Muslim world’s interests and unity should be paraded to the world, but the Saudi kingdom, “has even stopped short of verbally apologizing to Muslims” for the Mina tragedy, Rouhani added.
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