Ahlul Bayt News Agency - Ali Akbar Velayati, the top adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, said Tuesday the recent deadly crush in Mina, near the holy Saudi city of Mecca, during the Hajj pilgrimage rituals was “suspicious.”
“This incident and its circumstances are suspicious because some of our senior officials have been killed or gone missing in this incident,” he said.
He added that the Saudi government is dodging its responsibility in dealing with the consequences of this incident.
Asked if the disappearance of some Iranian diplomats in the stampede could be part of a plot, Velayati said, “Cooperation between the Saudi regime and the Zionist regime [Israel] in different arenas is not something that could be covered up.”
He added that Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Iyad Ameen Madani, should call on Muslim states to investigate the catastrophic Mina incident and work out strategies to guarantee the safety of pilgrims during the Hajj rituals.
“If Saudi Arabia is unable to fulfill its duties with regard to protecting the Hajj pilgrims, Muslim countries should move to carry out their duties in this regard,” Velayati said.
The fatal crush in the Saudi town of Mina occurred on September 24 after two large crowds of pilgrims, who were on their way to participate in the symbolic stoning of Satan, a Hajj ritual, collided.
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