The Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei called on the Muslim world to reconsider the management of hajj rituals and holy sites in Saudi Arabia, citing the poor performance of the Arab kingdom.
More than 460 Iranians were among the thousands of pilgrims who perished in the crush in Mina, near Mecca, on September 24, 2015, during the hajj pilgrimage, leading to a sharp escalation of already tense relations between Tehran and Riyadh.
It followed another deadly incident in the same month in which at least 107 people from across the world lost their lives, including 11 Iranians, when a massive construction crane crashed in the Grand Mosque in Mecca due to stormy weather.
"Because of [the Saudi] rulers' oppressive behavior toward God's guests, the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider the management of the two holy places [referring to the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina] and the issue of hajj," Ayatollah Khamenei said on Monday in a message on this year's hajj, which will start in the coming days, leader.ir reported.
"Saudi rulers, who have obstructed the path of Allah and Masjid al-Haram this year and who have blocked the proud and faithful Iranian pilgrims' path to the Beloved's House, are disgraced and misguided people who think their survival on the throne of oppression depend on defending the arrogant powers of the world, on alliances with Zionism and the US, and on fulfilling their demands. And on this path, they do not shy away from any treason," he said.
Subsequent talks between Tehran and Riyadh to mend the rift over the hajj disaster collapsed and Iranian officials later announced a suspension of hajj pilgrimage services as the Saudi officials failed to provide safety and security assurances.
"Saudi rulers were at fault in both cases. This is what all those present, observers and technical analysts agree upon. Some experts maintain that the events were premeditated. The hesitation and failure to rescue the half-dead and injured people whose enthusiastic souls and enthralled hearts were accompanying their praying tongues on Eid ul-Adha, is also obvious and incontrovertible," the Leader said.
The "heartless" and "murderous" Saudis locked up the injured with the dead in containers instead of providing medical treatment and helping them or at least quenching their thirst, he said.
***Shamelessness
Ayatollah Khamenei noted that instead of offering apology and remorse, and prosecuting those who were directly responsible in the horrifying events, Saudis shamelessly refused to allow the formation of an international Islamic fact-finding committee.
"Their propaganda mouthpieces—from the politicians whose behavior toward the Zionists and the US is a source of disgrace for the world of Islam, to impious and gluttonous muftis who blatantly issue fatwas against the Book and Sunnah, and to media minions who are not even deterred by codes of professional conduct from spreading and telling lies—are making futile efforts to show that the Islamic Republic is at fault for depriving Iranian pilgrims of this year's hajj pilgrimage," he said.
"The world of Islam, including Muslim governments and peoples, must familiarize themselves with the Saudi rulers and correctly understand their blasphemous, faithless, dependent and materialistic nature."
The Leader stressed that they must not let those rulers escape responsibility for the crimes they have committed throughout the world of Islam.
