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Iranians Stage Rally against Saudi Government over Mina Stampede

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A large number of Iranian demonstrators gathered outside the embassy complex to protest against the Saudi regime’s irresponsible treatment of Hajj affairs that has led to several incidents this year.

The protesters chanted “Down with the US” and “Down with Al Saud Regime”, and expressed anger over the death of 2,000 pilgrims from different nationalities, including 155 from Iran.

Demonstrators demanded the Iranian government to launch strenuous and serious efforts to follow up on the case and investigate the Muslim massacre in the Mina stampede.

The stampede occurred during the ritual known as “stoning the devil” in the tent city of Mina, about two miles from Mecca.

Some 155 Iranians have also lost their lives in the incident, while 150 others have been wounded.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei declared three days of national mourning over the death of the pilgrims.

In his message on Thursday evening the Iranian Leader expressed condolences to the bereaved families of all those killed in the incident, specially the Iranians, and declared three days of national mourning in the country.

Meantime, Ayatollah Khamenei blasted the Saudi government, saying that Riyadh should accept its responsibility for “mismanagement” and adoption of “improper measures”.

“Mismanagement and improper measures that caused this tragedy should not be overlooked,” he said, stressing that “the Saudi government is required to accept its heavy responsibility for this bitter incident and meet its obligations in compliance with the rule of righteousness and fairness”.

On Thursday, President Hassan Rouhani in a message to First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri issued special orders for following up the Mina incident.

The Iranian president in his message condoled with families of the victims of Hajj stampede in Mina.

“The regretful and sorrowful tragic incident of death and injury of Iranian Hajj pilgrims on the threshold of my arrival in New York imposed heavy sorrow on me and the accompanying delegation,” President Rouhani said in his message.

President Rouhani pointed to Ayatollah Khamenei’s declaration of three-day national mourning in Iran for death of over 155 Iranian Hajj pilgrims and injury of many others, and said, “This is the least that we can do for the families of the victims of Mina incident.

President Rouhani reiterated that the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Iranian Ambassador to Riyadh are duty-bound to investigate the cause of the incident and take all the necessary measures to help to revival of the rights of the victims and injured of the incident, and said, “I ask the Saudi government to fulfill its legal and Islamic duties concerning this issue while shouldering the responsibility.”

Meantime, Iranian lawmakers said that the Parliament is planning to investigate the stampede incident.

“The parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission will hold a special session to discuss the stampede in Mecca,” member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Reza Mohseni Sani told reporters.

He noted that the parliament’s commission will discuss the Mina incident in its upcoming meeting.

Mohseni Sani blamed the Saudi officials for the disorder which resulted in the death of hundreds of Hajj pilgrims, and urged the Iranian Judiciary and Foreign Ministry to pursue the case.

Sources revealed that the convoy of Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud caused panic among millions of pilgrims and started the stampede.

“The large convoy of Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, the King’s son and deputy crown prince, that was escorted by over 350 security forces, including 200 army men and 150 policemen, sped up the road to go through the pilgrims that were moving towards the site of the ‘Stoning the Devil’ ritual, causing panic among millions of pilgrims who were on the move from the opposite direction and caused the stampede,” several Arab papers, including the Arabic language al-Dyar newspaper, disclosed on Thursday evening.

“That’s why the ruler of Mecca has distanced himself from the case, stressing that the issue should be studied and decided by the King,” it added.

No other source has yet confirmed the report, but observers said the revelation explains why two of the roads to the ‘Stoning the Devil’ site has been closed.

Eye witnesses said earlier that the Saudi police and security forces had closed two of the few roads to the stone column that were to be used by millions of pilgrims to do the ‘Stoning the Devil’ ritual on Thursday.

Saeed Ohadi, the head of Iran’s Hajj organization, accused Saudi Arabia of safety errors and mismanagement.

He said for “unknown reasons” the paths had been closed off near the scene of the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual where the accident later took place.

“This caused this tragic incident,” he told the Iranian state television.

Eyewitness accounts said that even after incident the Saudi security and military forces closed all paths leading to the scene and the bodies of pilgrims have piled up on each other.

Others blamed Riyadh for mismanagement of Hajj ceremony, adding that many of the wounded pilgrims are dying of the hot weather conditions, which reached 46 degrees centigrade on Thursday, while police and the army have closed access roads to the site of the incident making the relief and rescue operations and trafficking of ambulances very difficult.

Pilgrims present on the scene are also complaining about insufficient number of medical teams and centers. Reports said hospitals are overwhelmed by the the large number of the wounded.

Twelve hours after the incident, the dead body of hundreds of those killed in the stampede were piled up out in the streets.

Head of the Iranian pilgrims Qazai Askar in an interview with the state TV on Thursday evening complained that the Saudi officials do not allow other countries’ relief and rescue squads to help.

“They have even prevented us from aiding our own pilgrims,” he complained with surprise.

This is the third incident in the Hajj rituals this year.

In the first incident, a crane crash over the Grand Mosque of Mecca killed over 100 and injured hundreds more two weeks ago.

Ten days before the start of Hajj this year, a construction crane crashed through the roof of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing 107 people. At least 238 others suffered injuries when a powerful storm toppled the crane.

A week later, a fire incident at a Mecca hotel claimed the lives of several other pilgrims.

A Saudi analyst said on the condition of anonymity for the fear of his life that the two stampede and crane crash incidents were the result of rivalries between a part of the Saudi police and security service and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to display that the Saudi king and crown prince are incompetent and unable to handle the Hajj ceremony.

Rivalries are tough and deep among different royal families who are all descendant of the Al-Saud and see themselves entitled to the thrown. The present king is the first from Sodayri family of Al-Saudi to have ascended to power.

This is not the first time that hundreds die during the Hajj rituals.

The ceremony was the scene of stampedes and hundreds of deaths in the 1980s and 1990s as pilgrims passed a crowded bottleneck area leading to the small pillars on the ground.

Incidents during the Hajj

September 2015

At least 453 killed and over 700 injured in crush outside Mecca

January 2006

364 pilgrims were killed in a stampede at the entrance to a bridge leading to the stoning site in Mina, outside Mecca

February 2004

251 pilgrims were trampled to death during the stoning ritual

February 2003

14 Muslim pilgrims were crushed to death performing the stoning ritual

March 2001

35 pilgrims killed in stampede

April 1998

Around 180 pilgrims were trampled to death when panic erupted after several fell off an overpass at al-Jamarat

April 1997

343 pilgrims were killed and 1,500 injured in a tent fire at the overcrowded Mina camp. At a result, the tents are now fireproof and gas cooking cylinders are banned

May 1994

Around 270 were killed in a stampede

June 1990

1,426 killed in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leading out from Mecca towards Mina and the Plains of Arafat

July 1989

Two bombs exploded, killing one and wounding over a dozen others.

July 1987

Over 400 killed during clashes between Saudi security forces and Iranian demonstrators in Mecca

December 1975

A fire in a tent city at Mina killed around 200 people. The fire was reportedly started by an exploding gas tank

The growing number of incidents and deaths during the Hajj rituals, including three this year, have caused increasing criticisms from the public and various Muslim states officials and elites who believe that Riyadh is incapable of running the Hajj ceremony, stressing that the Muslim site should be run by all the Muslim states and through a global Muslim world body such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Following the incident, Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi blamed Saudi Arabia for closing the paths leading to a bottleneck in the tent city of Mina which caused the stampede and killed hundreds of pilgrims, stressing that the incident once again showed that Riyadh is not qualified to run the Hajj ceremony.

“The Saudi government showed that it is ineligible and incompetent to manage the Hajj ceremony,” Boroujerdi told FNA on Thursday.

He also called on the Islamic countries to take a serious decision as soon as possible to protect the lives of pilgrims during the Hajj season.

Also after the crane crash in Mecca two weeks ago, several Egyptian religious figures joined the growing number of Muslim world elites and politicians demanding the change of authority in charge of running Hajj rituals from Riyadh to a collection of Muslim states.

“Many mistakes have been made during the Hajj ceremony in recent decades and the bloody Friday incident was not the first case and will not be the last either; therefore, unless a revolution doesn’t take place in the administration and management of the Hajj ceremony in Saudi Arabia, we will witness such incidents in future too,” Sheikh Salman Mohammad, the advisor of Egypt’s ministry of endowment, told FNA.

Also Ashraf Fahmi, a professor at Egypt’s al-Azhar university, said that Saudi Arabia should admit its mistakes in handling the Hajj ceremony and take serious measures to correct the way it administers the ceremony.

Storms were lashing the Saudi city of Mecca when strong winds reportedly brought down the crane that was part of construction works.

Tons of rubble and debris crashed to the ground on top of scores of people gathering in the mosque for 6:30 prayers when a section of the crane crashed through the roof.

At least 107 people were killed and 238 more were injured when the crane collapsed on to the Grand Mosque during storms.

The crane operated for a company owned by Saudi Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, Arab media disclosed following the incident early in September.

Meantime, other media sources claimed that the crane belongs to a German crane company operated by the Bin Laden family’s consortium, who are heading the expansion of the Holy Mosque.

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Shifting winds: How Assad is becoming Syria’s only viable option

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Are Western capitals finally owning up to the quagmire they helped create in Syria? Well not exactly, but the tone of officials is certainly more conciliatory than it was only a few months ago, when French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, and his British counterpart, Philip Hammond defiantly refused the possibility of engaging Assad for the sake of defeating terror.

“Proposing Assad as a solution to the extremists is to misunderstand the causes of the extremism. After 220,000 deaths and millions displaced, it is illusory to imagine that a majority of Syrians would accept to be ruled by the one who torments them,”they wrote in a joint statement in February.

What a difference a few months can make… Or is it that Syria’s war became too much of a palpable reality for Western capitalism to handle? Could it be that Europe is now willing to break bread with the man it has demonized for the past few years to stem the tide of refugees on its territories?

While officials will most likely deny that Syria’s exodus has anything to do with their sudden change of heart, I doubt anyone will be fooled by this volte-face. Europe’s stance towards foreign military interventionism remains as liberal as it ever was, with its officials advocating wars in the name of democracy building, but carrying the human burden conflicts inevitably generate was never part of the deal.

While invasions are indeed lucrative – at least from weapon dealers’ standpoint – the cost may now be too high for Western capitals to bear, because it means having to open their borders to those made destitute by NATO’s military ambitions. And since the demonization and criminalization of refugees will likely take too long to really help curb the ongoing human flow into Europe, officials are scrambling for a quick fix.

Suddenly President Assad does not look so devilish after all. Maybe soon his constitutional legitimacy will be remembered too and those remarks politicians made that Assad’s rule was more dangerous Islamic State’s (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) will be long forgotten – cataloged under temporary political insanity – or will it simply be redacted from the pages of history. Whichever is easier to handle surely!

But let’s go back to the Syrian leader’s political absolution.

On September 10, British Prime Minister David Cameron called for “hard military” intervention against ISIS. For what seems like forever, Cameron actually put IS as Britain’s primary target, moving away from his anti-Assad narrative and injunctions that those “moderates” should be further propped up against Damascus.

He said: “We have to be part of the international alliance that says we need an approach in Syria which will mean we have a government that can look after its people.”

Not to be a complete turncoat Cameron added in the same breath: “Assad has to go, ISIL has to go. Some of that will require not just spending money, not just aid, not just diplomacy but it will on occasion require hard military force.”

Here, the subtitle should read: “Supporting terror did not exactly work out for us so let’s go back to the drawing table and figure a way out of this mess, while keeping face and sticking to our regional military take-over agenda.”

If President Assad is no longer Western powers’ immediate target, they are still a long way away from giving up on ousting him from power. Washington, London, Paris and Berlin still very much want to control Syria’s political and institutional fate. Those billions they invested will not go to waste … forget about rebuilding, I’m talking colonial exploitation here.

This September 24, German Chancellor Angela Merkel sealed the deal when she bluntly proposed that Assad play a part in saving his country from complete annihilation. Now that’s an idea!

Hold on! Wasn’t it Vladimir Putin who first suggested that no peace in Syria would ever manifest without the Syrian president’s active contribution, especially since the latter is still viewed by Syrians as their legitimate leader?

Even if Western powers would like to deny this inconvenient reality, Assad remains a popular leader among his people, even more so now that the alternative is a life under the psychotic IS rule of Islamic State. Let’s remember that this civil war Syria finds itself stuck in is actually no such thing. Syria, like Iraq is under invasion from a foreign force motivated by a foreign ideology. Syrians called for reforms back in 2011, not regime change; those cries were those of Western-funded, Western-backed “moderates”. Remember those? Now they fly the black IS flag and they are the reason why hundreds of thousands of people were displaced.

“We have to speak with many actors, this includes Assad, but others as well,” Angela Merkel said at a press conference following the EU emergency summit on the refugee crisis. How convenient!

It is funny how this crisis in Europe is suddenly witnessing sensible suggestions from politicians. Now European leaders want to negotiate! Now Europe’s capitals are willing to admit to President Assad’s political weight and role in solving Syria’s crisis. Are we supposed to cheer now?

Here’s the thing: maybe Europe should really take a page out of President Putin’s political handbook because his foreign policies happen to make sense. Rather than preach wars he has worked to build economic ties and to weave a network that is so tightly intertwined that military interventionism will lose its appeal.

Who’s the madman now?

Catherine Shakdam is a political analyst, writer and commentator for the Middle East with a special focus on radical movements and Yemen. Her writings have been published in world-renowned publications such as Foreign Policy Journal, Mintpress News, the Guardian, Your Middle East, Middle East Monitor, Middle East Eye, Open Democracy, Eurasia Review and many more. A regular pundit on RT, she has also contributed her analyses to Etejah TV, IRIB radio, Press TV and NewsMax TV. Director of Programs at the Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies and consultant for Anderson Consulting, her research and work on Yemen were used by the UN Security Council in relation to Yemen looted funds in 2015.

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Saudi King Orders Concealing Mina CCTV Records: Report

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“The Saudi king’s order came after some videos showing the main cause of the Mina tragedy were released on the Internet,” the Arabic-language Middle East Panorama news website reported.

It noted that another reason for collecting the Mina CCTV captured videos is related to a demand by the world Muslims and Hajj pilgrims to set up an international fact-finding committee to probe into the Hajj tragic incidents.

A stampede during one of the last rituals of the Hajj season killed more than 2,000 people and left 2,000 wounded.

The stampede occurred during the ritual known as “stoning the devil” in the tent city of Mina, about two miles from Mecca.

Some 155 Iranians have also lost their lives in the incident, while over 150 others have been wounded in the incident.

On Saturday, a well-known Saudi online activist said the kingdom’s authorities had been warned against overcrowding and a lack of organization prior to the crush that reportedly killed some 2,000 pilgrims in Mina, in one of the worst tragedies to hit the Hajj pilgrimage.

The activist known as @mujtahidd on Twitter wrote that CCTV cameras had recorded the excessive number of pilgrims nearly two hours before the September 24 stampede in Mina.

The activist added that the Saudi officials in charge had contacted high-ranking authorities ahead of the disaster, calling for reinforcements to maintain safety and manage traffic and crowds, but all to no avail.

Mujtahidd further noted that Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has also issued an order that footage from police cameras as well as all telephone conservations remain under seal.

The revelations come as a host of pilgrims have stated that they are terrified to continue the ritual stoning of the devil in Mina due to what they call lack of organization and incompetency of Saudi security personnel in handling the affairs.

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

Meantime, sources revealed that the convoy of Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud caused panic among millions of pilgrims and started the stampede.

“The large convoy of Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, the King’s son and deputy crown prince, that was escorted by over 350 security forces, including 200 army men and 150 policemen, sped up the road to go through the pilgrims that were moving towards the site of the ‘Stoning the Devil’ ritual, causing panic among millions of pilgrims who were on the move from the opposite direction and caused the stampede,” several Arab papers, including the Arabic language al-Dyar newspaper, disclosed on Thursday evening.

“That’s why the ruler of Mecca has distanced himself from the case, stressing that the issue should be studied and decided by the King,” it added.

No other source has yet confirmed the report, but observers said the revelation explains why two of the roads to the ‘Stoning the Devil’ site has been closed.

Eye witnesses said earlier that the Saudi police and security forces had closed two of the few roads to the stone column that were to be used by millions of pilgrims to do the ‘Stoning the Devil’ ritual on Thursday.

Saeed Ohadi, the head of Iran’s Hajj organization, accused Saudi Arabia of safety errors and mismanagement.

He said for “unknown reasons” the paths had been closed off near the scene of the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual where the accident later took place.

“This caused this tragic incident,” he told the Iranian state television.

Eyewitness accounts said that even after incident the Saudi security and military forces closed all paths leading to the scene and the bodies of pilgrims have piled up on each other.

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Thousands of Shia-Sunni offered ‘Shoulders-to-Shoulders’ Eid Prayer in Lucknow

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Ahlul Bayt News Agency – In an attempt to send the message of peace and brotherhood in city of Lucknow, India, with a long history of sectarian clashes, members of Shia and Sunni communities, including religious leaders of both sects, offered joint “namaz” (prayer) here on the occasion of Eid-al-Adha on Friday.

The joint prayer was offered at the historic Sibtainabad Imambara, which was constructed during the reign of the nawabs by the father of Wajid Ali Shah.

The prayer was led by a Sunni Imam, Maulana Shehzad, and the participants included Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Sadiq.

A large number of people from both communities as well as clerics took part in the joint prayer, which was organised by a group of young muslims, “Shoulders-to-Shoulders”. Well known Shia cleric and All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) vice-president Maulana Kalbe Saadiq said on this occasion that a majority of people from all religions wanted peace and harmony. “Only a handful create problems”, he added.

Clerics from both communities welcomed the initiative and said that it would strengthen the bonds of love between Shias and Sunnis.

The convener of “Shoulders-to-Shoulders”, Haider, the brain behind the move, said that the group made extensive use of the social media to connect with Shia and Sunni community members.

“We had received tremendous response for our initiative…around 2,000 people had agreed to join the prayer”, he said, adding that the large presence at the joint prayer proved that they had been able to convey the message of peace and brotherhood.

Atif Hanif, member of the core group of “Shoulders-to-Shoulders”, told Deccan Herald that this kind of joint prayer had never been held in the city before.

It’s a welcome change from the regular dividing news coming out of the Muslim community. Let’s hope we see more of this peaceful efforts.

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Urge Saudi Arabia to cancel death penalty for Ali al-Nimr

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Ahlul Bayt News Agency – UK Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has called on the British premier to urge Saudi Arabia to commute the death sentence of Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr, a young Saudi man, over his alleged role in anti-regime protests in the Arab kingdom.

 “As you may be aware, Ali has now exhausted all his appeals and could be executed any day – in a particularly horrific manner, which involves beheading and the public display or ‘crucifixion’ of the body,” said Corbyn in letter to David Cameron on Friday, adding that “numerous fair trial violations” appeared in Nimr’s trial.

Corbyn urged the premier to raise the case directly with his Saudi counterparts and “request that they commute the unjust and horrific sentence… which violates any number of international laws.”

The Labor Party leader also rejected the Ministry of Justice’s bid to provide services to Saudi Arabia’s prisons.

“Will you step in to terminate the Ministry of Justice’s bid to provide services to the Saudi prisons system – the very body, I should stress, which will be responsible for carrying out Ali’s execution?,” Corbyn further wrote.

He highlighted the urgency of Nimr’s case, saying that “the secrecy of the Saudi system means that he could face execution at any time.”

“There is therefore no time to spare in taking this up with the Saudi authorities, if we are to prevent a grave injustice,” he wrote in conclusion.

Nimr, the nephew of prominent Saudi Shia cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, was arrested during an anti-government protest in Qatif, Eastern Province, back in 2012 when he was only 17 years old. He was later convicted of alleged criminal activities and handed down a death penalty by Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court in May 2015.

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The statement of Ahlul Bayt World Assembly over ‘Tragedy in Mina’

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In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

“.. And whoever goes forth from his house towards Allah and His Messenger, and then death overtakes him, his reward is indeed with Allah…”

The catastrophic disaster of Eid al-Adha in the holy land of Mina, which resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of guests of Allah, has caused deep sorrow and concern: sorrow for a large number of believers and pilgrims of Allah of various nationalities who lost their lives, and concern for the fate of administration of the Two Holy Mosques in Mecca and Medina.

Given that the Mina region has witnessed numerous tragedies for pilgrims, the basic question by Muslims around the world is that why no decisive measures are taken for the prevention of such events? And why even worse and bitterer events with more casualties occur every year? Why the lives and the health of this huge number of pilgrims who go to Hajj are not considered so important?

In yesterday’s incident, more than anything, negligence towards the security of the pilgrims is significant; and the question is: if the blocking of the paths was necessary, why pilgrims were not notified of alternative paths? Why no guideposts were arranged to guide the pilgrims who were too weary after one night of lodge in the land of Mash’ar? Why not enough security forces were present to control the large population? Why there were no quick medical or relief services for the victims?

If initial efforts were accomplished to help the wounded pilgrims, the death toll was surely lower. Why this year, when the number of pilgrims was less than other years, the hospitality was like this? And why the government of Saudi Arabia is bragging rather than adopting a sense of duty and responsibility?

In addition to Mina, there is another example of negligence towards the security of the pilgrims, which is the development project that is being continued in Mecca during the Hajj where the frightening shadows of cranes and unstable structures are being seen over millions of pilgrims and two weeks ago killed dozens of them.

It is much regrettable that the Court of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia officially confessed the negligence of the construction work on safety issues!

The Ahlul Bayt World Assembly appeals to Islamic scholars, muftis, heads of Islamic states, human rights organizations, international organizations, particularly the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which agreed to reduce the number of pilgrims, and the great Islamic Ummah to move collectively to shift the administration of pilgrimage and pilgrims from the monopoly of one single country to all Muslim countries in order to use the capacity and facilities of all Muslims to put an end to these tragic disasters.

The Ahlul Bayt World Assembly expresses its condolences on this sad tragedy to the Holy Spirit of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.), his Infallible Household (peace be upon them) and to the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei and all survivors and mourners across the Muslim world.

We further pray to Almighty Allah to bestow His mercy upon the victims and wish speedy recovery for all the injured pilgrims. O’ Allah! We complain to you on the absence of our Holy Prophet, and on the nonappearance of our Imam, and on the high number of our enemies and low number of ourselves and severe conditions and attacks against us!

The Ahlul Bayt World Assembly

25 September 2015

The head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said at least 1,300 people have been killed in a crush during Hajj pilgrimage rituals outside Mecca.

He added that the overall death toll is expected to exceed 1,500.

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25000 processions from inside and outside of Iraq prepare for Ashura month

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Ahlul Bayt News Agency – The Husseinian Rites Department in Iraq and other countries have begun to prepare for the month of sorrow “Ashura”. 25000 processions from inside and outside of Iraq began to prepare for Ashura approximately a month ago.

Riyadh Ni’ma Selman, director of the department, invited the media agencies to participate and cover the whole commemoration to broadcast the true image of Imam Hussein (Peace Be Upon Him) and the goals of his revolution, in addition to delivering the valor of the Iraqi warriors who have adopted the Husseinian principles and been fighting the evil forces.

He also called on the processions to cooperate with the security forces in terms of maintaining peace during the pilgrimages.

He added that security plans were set, in addition to plans for arranging the flow of pilgrims and offering them services.

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House of Saud does not deserve to administer Hajj

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Ahlul Bayt News Agency – During his Friday prayer sermon delivered to a large and fervent crowd of believers in Qom’s Holy Shrine of Lady Fatimah al-Ma’sumah, Hujjat al-Islam Sayyed Mohammad Sa’idi said that Iran’s Iran-Iraq War martyrs, wounded and veterans defended Islam, their country, and the obeyed the commands of the Guardian Jurisprudent of their time and sacrificed their lives on this path.

He added that next Friday, we will celebrate Eid al-Ghadir, the day which God Almighty introduced Imam Ali as the caliph and successor of the Prophet Muhammad and it was Imam Ali who demonstrated the correct way of practicing Islam after the Prophet’s passing.

“We hope in these days, greater efforts must be made to introduce Islamic and Shi’a knowledge, especially to the younger generation,” he said.

Hujjat al-Islam Sa’idi referred to Thursday’s traumatic stampede in Mina, saying: “The Saudi’s incompetent management of the situation was the cause of these incidents.”

The trustee of the Holy Shrine of Lady Fatimah al-Ma’sumah stressed that despite an 80-year-long history of holding the Hajj ceremony, the Saudis do not deserve to hold it.

He added that last year more than twenty million pilgrims participated in the Arba’in commemorations in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala and despite the insecurity and numerous threats from Takfiri terrorists, there were no problems.

“However, the Saudis cannot handle two million pilgrims,” he said.

His Eminence added that the Saudi’s role in this incident made this years’ Eid al-Adha bitter for the Muslims of the world, and emphasized that: “Being a custodian of a holy shrine is a huge responsibility and according to God Almighty, only the pious have the ability to fill this role but it is still to be seen whether the current custodians have followed the example of the Quranic verse in this regard or not.”

“The House of Saud do not think about God’s satisfaction and they consider attracting their American master’s attention as more important than anything,” he said.

Hujjat al-Islam Sa’idi referred to 1987 incident in Makkah, where hundreds of Hajj pilgrims were killed by the Saudis and noted that this years’ crane collapse at the Sacred Mosque and Thursday’s incident in Mina are the most telling evidence that the Saudis do not deserve to run the Two Holy Mosques.

His Eminence continued: “Reports say that the convoy of a Saudi prince [Muhammad ibn Salman Al Saud] travelling in the opposite direction of the pilgrims was the main reason for the high number of pilgrims being killed. The Saudi government is desperately trying to hide the cause of the incident, but they can never hide from their role in the crimes of the previous day.”

He said that this fact was mentioned by the late Imam Khomeini in 1987, wherein he said that the Islamic world should stand with one voice on this issue and a new plan should be presented to administer the Two Holy Mosques.

Hujjat al-Islam Sa’idi stated that Thursday’s catastrophe was an overwhelming tragedy for all of us and added that Iran’s Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, also offered a message of condolences over the tragedy to Imam al-Mahdi and to the survivors and declared three days of mourning.

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Death toll of Iranian pilgrims in Mecca rises to 136

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Ahlul Bayt News Agency – At least 136 Iranian pilgrims have lost their lives in a deadly crush during the Hajj pilgrimage rituals in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, according to the head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization.

Saeed Ohadi said on Saturday that 102 Iranian pilgrims had been wounded in the tragic incident while 344 others were still missing.

He noted that Iran has set up 10 teams to identify the injured pilgrims hospitalized in the Saudi port city of Jeddah and the city of Ta’if.

He said the identification of the wounded Iranian pilgrims is difficult due to tight security in Saudi Arabia.

At least 2,000 pilgrims lost their lives in the catastrophic entanglement after huge pilgrim processions were joined in their course on Friday.

It has been reported that the convoy of Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, the son of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, had arrived at the site, forcing the pilgrims to change their original direction of movement.
 

Iran’s readiness to transfer killed, injured

Secretary General of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) Ali Asghar Ahmadi said Iran is conducting preliminary work to transfer the bodies of the killed pilgrims to the country and send medical aid to the injured.

He added that the Iranian government plans to send a delegation, headed by Culture Minister Ali Jannati, to Saudi Arabia and noted that the team would be dispatched to the country immediately after receiving visas.

Ahmadi said the delegation would be accompanied by the IRCS head.

He noted that two planes are ready to transfer the bodies of the killed Iranian pilgrims and those injured in the Mina crush to Iran after receiving the Saudi government’s permission.

In a Friday message, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani ordered the formation of a special task force to address the incident in Mina.

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