Saudis Still Not Cooperating with Iran on Mina Tragedy

Iranian Vice President for Legal Affairs Elham Aminzadeh strongly criticized the Riyadh government's lack of cooperation with Tehran on probing the death of the country's pilgrims during the Hajj rituals in Mina, near Mecca, on September 24.

"The Saudi officials are still not cooperating with Iran on the Hajj tragedy," Aminzadeh said on Saturday.

She called on the Saudi government to cooperate with Iran, and said, "We cannot achieve our objectives in this regard as long as Saudi Arabia does not cooperate with Iran because we have to gather the evidence from Saudi Arabia."

Aminzadeh said that the Iranian Fact-Finding Committee is seriously following up the death of the Iranian Hajj pilgrims, and will try legal channels to restore the rights of the victims.

In Late September, Aminzadeh blamed Saudi Arabia for mismanaging the Hajj ceremony which led to the tragic incident of stampede in Mina, and called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to find a way to protect the pilgrims.

"As the Supreme Leader has stated, the Saudi government is required to shoulder its heavy responsibility for this bitter incident and meet its obligations in compliance with the rule of righteousness and fairness," Aminzadeh said at the time.

On Monday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian expressed regret over the Saudi officials' negligence about presenting a reliable report on the causes of the Mina stampede, and said Tehran will pursue the death of its nationals in the Mina incident through legal channels.


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