KHAMENEHI. . . the Saudis did it
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi Monday stopped just short of accusing Saudi Arabia of murdering thousands of hajjis last month, but he called the deaths a human rights violation, meaning they did not die by accident.
Khamenehi said the Saudis were “responsible” for the mass deaths.
Khamenehi made similar remarks about the Saudis last month just after the stampede September 24. But he quickly dropped the charge when no other Muslim country joined him in calling the Saudis responsible for the mass deaths.
He then shifted to criticism of the way the Saudis were handling the injured and the slowness of the repatriation of the dead, following in the wake of complaints from several others countries.
But on Monday, he shifted the attack back to accusing the Saudis of causing the deaths.
This time he complained that no other country in the entire world had joined with the Islamic Republic in blaming the Saudis for the tragedy. He condemned both the Islamic world and the West for silence.
Khamenehi addressed a meeting of officials of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Monday. He demanded more dynamism from them and from the country’s diplomats in addressing the Mina bloodshed “in as assertive a manner as possible.”
Khamenehi said, “The bitter event at Mina was a test of our piety. However, we should not forget the event itself or the policy of silence by the hegemonic powers of the West, who claim to be the defenders of human rights.”
He said, “The host, Saudi Arabia, is the most responsible body for the deaths of 7,000 Muslims.” He didn’t say where he got that number, which is higher than any yet published. The Associated Press said as he spoke that its tabulation from announcements by countries totaled 2,121 dead.
Khamenehi said, “We expected to see a single voice of condemnation by the Islamic world. However, no other voice was heard than that of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Even governments whose citizens had died in the event averted their attention from the issue.”
“Hypocritical and lying organizations, which claim to be supporters of human rights, together with Western governments, which sometimes kick up a fuss around the world over the death of a single person, maintained absolute silence in this case to favor their friends [in Saudi Arabia],” he asserted.
“The international community should target human rights organizations and Western governments as if they had been accomplices in the event,” he said.
“If those who claim to be supporting human rights were honest, they would ask for accountability, compensation, guarantees for non-repetition and punishment for the culprits behind the catastrophe.”
It wasn’t clear what he expected to accomplish by slamming the rest of the Islamic world for what he called silence because they did not accuse the Saudis of being killers. The Islamic Republic already stands out as an isolated state in the Islamic world for its harsh position. The renewed rhetoric threatens to isolate Iran further by providing evidence for the Saudis to use to paint Iran as an aggressive Shiite state trying to impose its will on the entire Islamic world