Special to WorldTribune.com
Judgement Day came twice this month in Saudi Arabia and the leader of one of two warring factions of Islam wants the world to know that the other faction is responsible.
Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a Shi’ite, on Sept. 27 demanded that Shia Saudi Arabia apologize for the stampede near Mecca this week that killed more than 700 people at the hajj pilgrimage.
“This issue will not be forgotten and the nations will pursue it seriously. … [The] Saudis should accept the responsibility and apologize to the Muslims and the victims’ families,” Khamenei said of Iran’s regional rival.
The supreme leader’s comments came a day after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took Saudi to task for the disaster in a speech to the UN General Assembly.
He did not reference the earlier incident on Sept. 11 in which the toppling of a construction crane at the Grand Mosque killed 107 pilgrims including an Iran nuclear scientist.
Related: Lightning struck Bin Laden group’s crane on Sept. 11 moments before it fell, killing 107 pilgrims, Sept. 14
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin-Abdullah al-Sheikh, Saudi Arabia’s most senior cleric, backed the handling of the disaster by his country’s authorities and said the tragedy was “beyond human control.”
While the death toll has been put at 769 by Saudi Arabia, Iran said it believes over 1,000 died in the stampede at Mina when two large groups of pilgrims converged at a crossroad leading to where pilgrims take part in the “stoning the devil” ritual at Jamarat.
“The Islamic World has a lot of questions,” Khamenei added.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Iran was jumping the gun on its criticism and should wait for the Saudi investigation to be concluded.
“This is not a situation with which to play politics,” Adel al-Jubeir said on Sept. 26 before a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at UN headquarters in New York. “I would hope that the Iranian leaders would be more sensible and more thoughtful with regards to those who perished in this tragedy and wait until we see the results of the investigation.”
In his comments at the United Nations, Rouhani called for an investigation into “the causes of this incident and other similar incidents in this year’s hajj.” Teheran has reported 131 Iranians were killed in the stampede.
Saudi Health Minister Khalid al-Falih has said an investigation into the disaster is being conducted and King Salman has ordered a review of the country’s hajj plans.
Observers have said there were several contributing factors to the disaster, including confusion by thousands of first-time hajj attendees, oppressive heat (it was 110 degrees at the time of the stampede) and Iranian media suggested Saudi Arabia closed some roads, forcing thousands to converge and jam into one central pathway.
Saudi officials strongly denied “misleading and distorted allegations” about road closures.
“Claims that the stampede occurred following road closures because of a ministerial event or a dignitaries convoy are false,” said Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud, Saudi ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Judgement day: Khamenei demands Saudi apology, sheikh calls tragedy ‘beyond human control’ added by World Tribune on
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