Hajj tragedy: Iran president calls for press and investigation at UN

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Ahlul Bayt News Agency –  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has criticized Saudi Arabia for lack of its cooperation following the recent deadly Hajj incident, urging the UN to press Riyadh to fulfill its legal obligations.

“Unfortunately, the Saudi government does not cooperate enough in addressing the fate of the missing and transferring the bodies of those killed as well as the injured ones, and it is imperative that the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon remind the Riyadh government of its legal and human obligations,” Rouhani said.

The Iranian president made the remarks in his Saturday meeting with the UN chief in New York on the sidelines of 70th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

At least 155 Iranian pilgrims have so far been confirmed dead in the deadly crush, according to the head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization. Saeed Ohadi said on Saturday that 102 Iranian pilgrims have also been wounded and 321 others are still missing.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president also called on the UN chief to do his utmost to help the implementation of an Iranian-proposed act aimed at fighting violence and extremism.

Addressing the 68th session of the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2013, Rouhani presented a set of proposals for a World Against Violence and Extremism (WAVE). In December 2013, the UNGA overwhelmingly voted to approve the WAVE act, which calls on all nations across the globe to denounce violence and extremism.

In the meeting, Rouhani also touched on the issue of terrorism in the Middle East which he said has displaced and endangered the lives of millions, and said the UN, big powers as well as regional countries shoulder a heavy responsibility in the crises in the region.

Underlining the need for coordinated campaign against terrorism, Rouhani also called for an end to interference of certain countries in the region, including in Yemen and Syria.

Rouhani said an immediate end to military intervention, delivery of humanitarian aid and start of intra-Yemeni dialogue without any foreign meddling are the key to ending the crisis and restoring lasting peace in Yemen.

He also said that Iran is ready to cooperate with the UN and regional countries to help restore stability in the war-torn Arab country which has been under Saudi air strikes since March 26.

The UN chief, for his part, extended his condolences to Iran over the deadly Mina incident which has led to the deaths of Iranian pilgrims.

Discussing the latest developments in the Middle East with the Iranian president, Ban also called for the Islamic Republic’s assistance in settling regional crises, including the tensions in Yemen, and Syria.

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Imam Khamenei: Saudi Must Accept Their Responsibility and Apologize for Deadly Hajj Stampede

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Addressing a group of clerics on Sunday, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The Muslim world has many questions in this regard and Saudi rulers, instead of shunning (their responsibility) must accept their responsibility in this grave incident by apologizing to the Muslim Ummah and bereft families.”

Referring to the bitter incident in Mina, which turned Eid al-Adha into a mourning occasion for the Muslim Ummah, the Leader added, “One cannot consider himself free from this sorrow (even) for a single moment and this sorrow has been weighing on the hearts of us and all Muslims during these past few days.”

The Leader described Saudi rulers’ effort to dodge their responsibility in this catastrophe as incorrect and an ineffective measure, saying, “The Muslim world has many questions and the death of more than 1,000 people in this incident is no small matter. Therefore, the world of Islam should find a solution for this problem.”

Emphasizing that this incident will not be forgotten and will be seriously followed by Muslim nations, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Instead of projection and incriminating this or that, Saudis must accept their responsibility and apologize to the Muslim Ummah and bereft families.”

On September 24, a fatal human crush broke out in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, as a large crowd of pilgrims were on their way to participate in the symbolic stoning of Satan, a Hajj ritual.

Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry has put the death toll from the incident at nearly 770. However, Head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Saeed Ohadi has said the disaster killed around 2,000 pilgrims, citing Saudi sources.

At least 144 Iranian pilgrims have so far been confirmed dead in the crush. Ohadi said Saturday that 102 Iranians have also been wounded, while hundreds are still missing.

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Bahraini Children Prevented from Receiving Shiite Religious Education

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Ahlul Bayt News Agency – Sayed Ahmed Al-Wadaei, the director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), made a statement at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday (September 22, 2015) in which he tackled the abuses that the indigenous Bahrainis are being subjected to in the island kingdom.

In the statement he delivered under clause 5 before the council during its 30th session, Al-Wedai said: “The Bahraini government has worked on erasing the culture and history of the indigenous Bahrainis,” pointing out that “the government does not promote the indigenous Bahraini heritage sites.”

In this context, he tackled the education policies that are based on discrimination as “most of Bahraini Shiite students have been prevented from receiving their Shiite religious education.” The authorities refuse to upgrade the religious education system in official schools in a way that allows the study of other religions and Islamic sects or adopting comparative education.

The religious education curriculum in schools affiliated to the Ministry of Education is restricted to teaching religion within the Sunni jurisprudence, although Shiites constitute the majority.

He also highlighted that the authorities “demolished 38 significant mosques and religious sites for the indigenous Bahraini aiming at erasing their history.”

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Imam Ali Mosque in Germany will open doors to non-Muslims

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Ahlul Bayt News Agency – Imam Ali (AS) Mosque in Germany will open doors to non-Muslims in a ceremony titled “Muslim Youth in Germany” to be held on October 3.

The ceremony has been planned on the occasion of the Day of German Unity which is the national day of Germany, celebrated on 3 October as a public holiday.

Islamic Center of Hamburg will host the ceremony from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time.

Introduction of the activities of the mosque and the center, photo exhibition of the history of mosque and the center, photo exhibition of the 50th anniversary of the center’s establishment, exhibition of handicrafts and artworks and a calligraphy exhibition are some parts of the programs.

An exhibition of books and magazines in German will also be held on the sidelines of the ceremony.

The program will include competitions for children and traditional music.

The Islamic Centre Hamburg is one of the oldest Shia mosques in Germany and Europe. Established in Hamburg, in northern Germany, in the late 1950s by a group of Iranian emigrants and business people it rapidly developed into one of the leading Shia centers in the Western world.

Many leading Iranian theologians and politicians (including Ayatollah Beheshti, Ayatollah Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari or Mohammad Khatami) have spent time (often years) there, have encountered and studied Western sciences and philosophy and contributed to the Western understanding of Shia Islam.

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Saudi cleric: Riyadh regime responsible for Hajj Tragedy

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Ahlul Bayt News Agency – A Saudi cleric says the Riyadh regime should be held accountable for the crush that killed hundreds of Hajj pilgrims at Mina, adding that Saudi rulers cannot evade their responsibility by labeling the tragedy as an act of God.

In a video that circulated on social networking sites, Salman bin Fahd bin Abdullah al-Ouda, rejected the views that the repeated incidents during the Hajj pilgrimage could be justified simply by describing them as an act of God, which is inevitable.

The cleric further emphasized that Islam attaches great significance to protecting people’s lives and providing security during religious rituals, calling on Muslim countries to make efforts to that effect.

Ouda also called on media outlets to cover the incident with full transparency.

The remarks by the Saudi sheikh comes as Saudi Arabia’s top religious leader Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah ash-Sheikh attempted to take the responsibility for the Mina stampede off the Riyadh regime’s shoulders, claiming that the incident was beyond human control.

Sheikh made the remarks in a Saturday meeting with Saudi Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef, whom he said was not to blame for the deaths of hundreds of pilgrims outside the holy city of Mecca earlier this week.

He added that pilgrims must stick to “the rules and regulations taken by the security personnel… In doing so, they protect their lives, their security and facilitate their performing of the rituals.”

On September 24, a fatal human took place at Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, as a large crowd of pilgrims were on their way to participate in the symbolic stoning of Satan, a Hajj ritual.

Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry has put the death toll from the incident at nearly 770. However, Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization says the disaster has killed around 2,000 pilgrims.

The Mina tragedy has cast doubt on the Saudi regime’s ability to manage the large influx of pilgrims into the kingdom during the Hajj pilgrimage season every year.

Riyadh claims the disorderly behavior of the pilgrims caused the disaster.

However, pilgrims blame the deadly crush on police, who reportedly had closed two roads on the day the incident happened. They also point the finger at Saudi authorities who failed to adopt proper security measures in handling the flow of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in high temperatures.

This year’s pilgrimage saw a host of incidents, with 109 people killed in the collapse of a giant crane in the Grand Mosque days before the ritual started. On Friday, Egyptian pilgrims stationed in Mina reported a fire in their tents, although no official casualties were reported.

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7 Yemenis killed in fresh Saudi warplanes aggression

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Ahlul Bayt News Agency – At least seven people have been killed in a new wave of Saudi airborne aggression against war-torn Yemen, as Riyadh’s unabated bombardment of residential areas keeps taking lives of civilians throughout the impoverished country.

Yemen’s al-Masirah TV reported on Saturday that the civilians, including four children and a woman, lost their lives as Saudi fighter jets targeted a residential house in the Yemeni capital Sana’a.

Saudi warplanes also targeted a number of localities in the province several times, including Sarf dam, a military police building and Beit al-Awzari area in the Bani al-Hareth district.

Similar assaults hit 12 times an educational center in the Sawadiyah district of Yemen’s southeastern province of Bayda.

They also bombarded a pipeline in the central province of Ma’rib and targeted a camp that was set up for displaced people in the Sarwah district of the same province.

In the western province of Hudaydah, Saudi jets struck an air defense site in Salif and a marine base in Kamaran Island multiple times. Warplanes also carried out five airstrikes against Mokha port in Yemen’s southwestern province of Ta’izz.

There is still no word on the possible casualties of those raids.

In retaliatory attacks carried out by Yemeni Ansarullah fighters, a tank at a military site and five other military vehicles were destroyed west of the Ghamar village in Saudi’s southwestern border region of Jizan.

Yemeni army says it also took control of four Saudi military bases in the region, adding that they inflicted casualties on Saudi forces.

Saudi Arabia started its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to the fugitive former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

According to a report released on September 19 by the Yemen’s Civil Coalition, over 6,000 Yemenis have so far lost their lives in the airstrikes, and a total of nearly 14,000 people have been injured.

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ISIS attacks Afghan police posts

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Members of ISIS have launched coordinated attacks on a number of security posts in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar as the terrorists are making inroads into the crisis-hit Asian country.

Haji Ghalib, governor of Achin district in the troubled province, said Daesh extremists raided eight to 10 police posts early on Sunday, but did not provide any information about possible casualties and the extent of damage caused.

“This is the first time that Daesh fighters have launched coordinated attacks on police checkpoints in Nangarhar,” Ghalib noted.

The report comes two days after the United Nations revealed on September 25 that Daesh is recruiting militants in 25 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces

“The number of groups and individuals who are openly declaring either loyalty to or sympathy with ISIL (Daesh) continues to grow in a number of provinces in Afghanistan,” the report said.

Nangarhar has been witnessing a rise in the presence of Daesh terrorists in a number of its districts in recent months.

On June 16, the Afghan militant group, Taliban, warned Daesh ringleader, Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, against “waging a parallel insurgency in Afghanistan.”

Taliban asked the Daesh leader to keep his men out of Afghanistan by withdrawing his support for those elements that are recruiting young militants in Taliban strongholds.

Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity nearly 14 years after the United States and its allies attacked the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. Although the attack overthrew the Taliban, many areas across Afghanistan still face violence and insecurity.

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Iran’s Parliament statement condemns Saudi rulers for Mina tragedy

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Iran’s lawmakers censured Saudi Arabia for failing to provide security for Hajj pilgrims and said management of the Hajj pilgrimage should be transferred to the Muslim world, which can handle the religious rites “in the safest way”.

In a statement on Sunday, the Iranian MPs pointed to a recent crush in Mina, near Mecca, that led to the deaths of about 2000 Hajj pilgrims, including at least 155 Iranians, saying that the incident turned the Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim festival, into a mourning occasion for the Islamic Ummah (community).

“Today a rightful demand has been raised among Muslims,” the lawmakers stated, adding that the Islamic world is wondering how long its holiest sites, which do not belong to a single country but to the entire Muslim world, should witness such tragic events due to the Saudi government’s poor management of the event.

“Undoubtedly, the high capacity of the Muslim world makes it capable of managing the global Hajj congregation in the safest way,” the Iranian MPs said.

They also called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to dispatch a fact-finding mission to Saudi Arabia to investigate the causes of the Mina tragedy.

About 2000 pilgrims were killed in the Thursday crush in Mina when performing religious rites. With the death toll rising, many pilgrims are still unaccounted for in the incident that marked the worst Hajj disaster in 25 years.

So far, 155 Iranian pilgrims have been pronounced dead and more than a hundred others are confirmed to have been wounded in the tragic event.

The incident came nearly two weeks after tens of Hajj pilgrims were killed in another tragic incident in Mecca.

On September 11, a massive construction crane crashed into Mecca’s Grand Mosque in stormy weather, killing at least 107 people, including 11 Iranians, and injuring 201 others.

Hajj, the world’s largest annual gathering of people, has already witnessed numerous deadly crushes, fires and riots in the past.

Saudi authorities have come under fire for their inability to ensure the safety of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who converge on Mecca every year.

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Iran death toll at Mina reaches 155

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The death toll of the Iranian pilgrims reached 155, Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization announced Sunday.

Deputy head of Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said the number of the injured Iranian pilgrims has decreased from 82 to 90.

Hamid Mohammadi said the number of missing Iranian pilgrims is 316.

The pilgrims were on way to jamarāt to perform Hajj rituals there. The Stoning of the Devil is part of the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca.

Muslim pilgrims fling pebbles at three walls called jamarāt, in the city of Mina just east of Mecca.

It is one of a series of ritual acts that must be performed in the Hajj.

Many world experts, political and religious officials believe mismanagement was the real cause for the various incidents in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, including the fall of a huge crane, a fire disaster in a hotel, a fire which spread in the camp of the Egyptian pilgrims in Mina desert, and above all, the Mina stampede.

Meanwhile, First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri held the Saudi government responsible for the Thursday stampede tragedy during hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. More than 2,000 pilgrims lost their lives with hundreds still missing.

‘The Mina incident was a very significant issue for us which unveiled Saudi Arabia’s mismanagement,’ he said.

Jahangiri expressed dismay at the two fatal incidents of crane crash and stampede during current hajj rituals and said, ‘The Government of Iran believes that the Saudi government shall be held accountable and investigate the causes of the tragedy.’

On September 24, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei declared three days of national mourning following the deaths of several hundred Hajj pilgrims, including Iranians, in the holy city of Mecca.

‘The Saudi government is required to accept its heavy responsibility in this bitter incident and meet its obligations in compliance with the rule of righteousness and fairness. Mismanagement and inadequate measures that were behind this tragedy should not be undermined,” the Leader said.

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Ghadeer needs to become institution amongst people

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Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani declared: “The day of Ghadeer needs to become cherished in such a way that – like the commemoration of Ashura – it becomes an institution amongst the people.”

“Celebrating the day of Ghadeer has a huge importance for Shia Muslims. The day of Ghadeer needs to become cherished in such a way that – like the commemoration of Ashura – it becomes an institution amongst the people,” Ayatollah Noori Hamedani stated, during his advanced jurisprudence class.

“Every year around 2 million people gather together for Haj, however when it comes to the Arba’een of Imam Hussein, we see that 20 million people are waiting for the day to arrive to gather in Karbala. We need to create an atmosphere so that one day, 20 million people gather together to celebrate the day of Ghadeer.”
Alluding to the topic of divine successorship, Ayatollah Hamedani stated: “The Holy Prophet Muhammad from the very beginning of his prophetic mission raised the issue of Imamah (divine succession) alongside prophethood.”

“Some opponents claim Shi’ism came at a later date, but from the very beginning Imam Ali was appointed as the Holy Prophets successor and the likes of Meytham al-Tammar and Ammar ibn Yassir defended this Wilayah with their lives.” He continued.

Regarding Wilayah al-Faqih and its relationship with the Wilayah of the Infallible Imams, Ayatollah Hamedani declared: “One of the special qualities of Imam Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution was that it brought back to life a principle that had been abandoned for centuries.”

“Throughout history the biggest oppression was carried out against Wilayah al-Faqih, therefore this principle needs to be emboldened in front of the enemies.” He concluded.

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