Mohsen Rezaei told reporters on Saturday after Expediency Council session that all affected countries would also participate in the committee; “many Muslims have been killed in the stampede due to mismanagement and incompetence in handling a huge event as Hajj pilgrimage; the incident plunged the Islamic world into mourning and reflected a debased image of the Muslims in the eyes of the world, which would wonder how such a huge and historically held ceremony would turn dangerous and insecure,” Rezaei told the press. “The event especially hit our nation by the waves of news about the number of deaths, injuries, and missing pilgrims; we expect that the authorities especially Ministry of Health, Interior, and Foreign Affairs get seriously engaged in returning the bodies of the killed pilgrims, injured, and the missing pilgrims to their families to alleviate the tense situation which hit the society since three days ago,” he proposed.
“Issuing statements is a good measure; however, government officials should take the matter seriously,” Rezaei believed. On the possible theories behind the incident, he said that a theory lent credit to the scope of discord in the ranks and files of Saudi ruling family; “the other theory says that blockading two or three avenues brought the large multitudes of pilgrims in a small corridor too tight for such a large number of people, despite the fact that pilgrims adhered to the timetable given for them to do the ritual in Mina,” he accounted.
“Possibly, the lack of understanding among executive officials in blockading the streets for crossing of a prince contributed to the disaster; generally, a division of 4 brigades of 60,000 personnel had been handling the Hajj rituals; these experienced forces are now in Yemen fighting Houthis, thus the less experienced and possibly reserve forces now on the duty replacing them,” Rezaei asserted.
The secretary of Expediency Council emphasized that Iran, Egypt and Nigeria should cooperate in establishing of a fact-finding committee where other countries also would participate; “Saudis should cooperate with this committee; any failure to accurately analyze the incident could be the cause of similar future events; within the recent three decades, 10,000 pilgrims have been killed in a place should be the most secure place on earth,” he demanded.
Rezaei also responded to a question of recent implication of the Islamic Republic of Iran by Saudis in the virtual social networks; “the allegations could not be taken as Saudi government official position; they so far have said that the incident had been predestined; the virtual media is a diverse and wide space where any user would speak out any message whatsoever,” he said.