Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif slammed the Riyadh regime for its continued support for militant groups in the Middle East, saying Saudis have caused huge suffering for regional nations by "spreading" terrorism.
"The unlimited obstinacy, stupidity, fanaticism and wealth of Saudi rulers have made the Al Saud regime cruel and irrational," Zarif said in a message issued on Sunday on the occasion of the first anniversary of the deadly crush of people during last year's hajj rituals in Mina, near the Saudi holy city of Mecca, which claimed the lives of thousands of pilgrims, including 465 Iranians, Tasnim News Agency reported.
"By producing, breeding and spreading terrorism, it [Riyadh] has plagued the region and the world with the most tragic and atrocious conditions in recent history."
Evil Hands
Not only in the Mina tragedy but also in all crises that have engulfed "sensitive" parts of the Middle East, including Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, "some evil hands" can be seen, the top diplomat said, referring to the Saudi crimes in the region.
In recent years, the Middle East region has been plagued with militant groups, which are believed to have been created and supported by the West and Saudi Arabia.
Zarif gave assurances that the Iranian Foreign Ministry will make every effort to restore the rights of the bereaved families of the Iranian victims of the Mina tragedy.
"The Foreign Ministry has always had a sense of duty to protect the life, dignity and assets of every Iranian national abroad," he said. The deadly crush of hajj pilgrims in Mina in September 2015 marked the worst ever tragedy during hajj.
In a message on the occasion last week, Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei strongly slammed the "murderous" Saudi rulers for refusing to allow an international probe into the deadly crush, urging Muslims to "correctly understand their [Saudis'] blasphemous, faithless, dependent and materialistic nature".
"Several thousand families from different countries lost their loved ones and their nations were bereaved. From the Islamic Republic, close to five hundred people were among the martyrs. The hearts of their families are still broken and bereaved, and our people remain grief-stricken and angry," the Leader said.
