Imam Khamenei: Saudi evil progeny undeserved for two holy shrines custodianship

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Leader of Islamic Revolution rapped Saudi regime over its unapologetic behavior toward Muslims for Mina tragedy, dubbing the incident another proof of incompetency of the ‘evil progeny' in being custodian of the Two Holy Shrines in Mecca and Medina.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the remark on Wednesday among the families of the martyrs of Mina stampede and Masjid ul-Haram crane crash as well as families of Hajj pilgrims martyred in 1987 on the eve of the first martyrdom anniversary of nearly 500 Iranian Hajj pilgrims in the Mina tragedy.

The Leader went on to add, “the Mina tragedy and the loss of lives of Iranian pilgrims while praying and thirsty under the burning sun, is a deeply grieving incident with various revealing political, social, moral and religious dimensions that must not be forgotten.”

Ayatollah Khamenei leveled sharp criticism at the countries and governments that did not react to this grievous catastrophe which took the lives of about 7,000 Hajj pilgrims, and deemed their silence and indifference a ‘great disaster for the Islamic Ummah’.

He further noted that the Saudi authorities’ refusal to even utter a spoken apology for the Mina tragedy indicated their ‘shamelessness’ and ‘indecency’; “even if no act of deliberation was involved, this level of incompetence and imprudence from a political ruling body should be considered a crime.”

Ayat. Khamenei stressed that another horrific aspect of the Mina stampede was the ‘deadly silence of the so-called human rights entities’; “Those who have put their faith and hopes into international communities and organizations should learn a lesson from this bitter truth,” he said.

The Leader then highlighted the formation of a fact-finding mission as an essential and indispensable task for Islamic countries and defenders of human rights, adding “if the House of Saud is confident about its claims of guiltlessness in the Mina tragedy, it needs to stop stuffing criticizing mouths with money and allow the fact-finding mission to closely pursue the case.”

Elsewhere in his address, Ayat. Khamenei considered the supporters of the Saudi regime as complicit in the Mina tragedy, adding “the shameless Saudi regime backed by the US is standing flagrantly against Muslims and continues to shed innocent bloods in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Bahrain. The US and other supporters of Riyadh are all complicit in the Saudis’ crimes.”

The Leader then referred to the attempts by propagandist bodies to introduce the Mina stampede as an instance of conflicts among ‘Shias/Sunnis’ or ‘Arabs/non-Arabs’, saying “the propagandists allies of the Saudi authorities are repeating this blatant lie when the majority of the 7,000 Mina martyrs, including a great number of the Iranians, had been Sunnis.”

He went on to add, “the truth of the matter is that the despicable Saudis are a group within the Muslim world, some of whom are, knowingly or unknowingly, engaged in enmity with Muslims. It is imperative for the Islamic world to stand up against them and reject the Saudis’ masters, that is the US and the UK.”

Concluding his speech, the Leader called on various bodies including the Foreign Ministry, Hajj Organization and Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs to perform their duties toward the great tragedy of Mina by pursuing the case with diligence and seriousness.



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