Tehran – Iran’s top leader on Wednesday warned Saudi Arabia that his country will take “harsh” measures if the kingdom fails to promptly repatriate bodies of the Iranian pilgrims killed in the disaster at the hajj pilgrimage last week.
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Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s warning came as the Shiite powerhouse summoned Riyadh’s envoy to Tehran for the fourth time since last Thursday’s deadly crush to protest what it called the kingdom’s “mishandling” of the incident.
The developments reflect Iran’s intentions to keep up pressure on Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the stampede. Iran has led a chorus of nations that have criticized Saudi Arabia’s alleged slow response to the incident, including belated diplomatic access to the dead and injured, days after the disaster.
Iranian hard-liners have staged daily protests near the Saudi Embassy in Tehran while President Hassan Rouhani devoted a significant part of his speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Monday to demand Saudi Arabia “carry out its legal and international obligations toward foreign citizens and pilgrims” and have the incident “fully investigated.”
Riyadh has said that 769 pilgrims died in the stampede near Mecca — the worst disaster to strike the annual pilgrimage in a quarter-century. Among those killed were also 239 Iranian pilgrims.
Iran has blamed archrival Saudi Arabia, saying its “incompetence” and “mismanagement” were the main reason behind the tragedy. The pilgrims suffocated or were trampled to death when two massive crowds converged on a narrow street in the tent city of Mina, just outside Mecca.
In comments broadcast on state TV, Khamenei said Saudi Arabia “will not be in a good situation” if it disrespects Iranian pilgrims or fails to repatriate the bodies of Iranian pilgrims back to Iran.
Iran’s English language Press TV quoted foreign ministry official Ali Chegini as warning against any delays in the identification of missing Iranians. Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told the official IRNA news agency that the families of the killed Iranian pilgrims do not agree that their kin be buried on Saudi soil.
And Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli sent a letter to his Saudi counterpart Mohammad bin Nayef on Wednesday, calling for a thorough investigation, according to Iranian media.
Iran says that 241 Iranian pilgrims still remain unaccounted for following the hajj disaster.
good, moshiach wont come until Iran and Saudi Arabia are at war.
Stop threatening and start doing!