‘Mina incident is unforgivable’: Sunni cleric

Hajj Aba Akhound Derakhshan, President of Karimi Seminary in Razo Jargalan area in an exclusive interview with Taqrib News Agency (TNA) named Saudi officials traitor for their misbehavior in the recent deadly stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage rituals in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca which came after a massive construction crane collapsed into Mecca’s Grand Mosque.

The religious cleric lamented the fact that “Hajj pilgrimage victims including many Iranian ones lost their lives in the wake of Saudi ruler’s mismanagement, Imprudence, and incompetence.”

Stressing Saudi rulers cannot dodge their responsibility for the occurrence of such incident in the biggest commemoration of Muslims, Hajj Aba Akhound Derakhshan
highlighted, “for Muslim nations, Saudi government is no different from Israeli officials and authorities in western countries.”

Emphasizing the need for the formation of a Muslim committee to supervise the management of the annual Islamic event, the Sunni cleric went on to add, “Saudi regime should allow a joint committee of Muslim countries to oversee the management of annual Hajj pilgrimage.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, President of Karimi Seminary in Razo Jargalan stressed Riyadh’s ongoing deadly war on Yemen is also to blame for the fatal stampede in Mina noting, “Saudi rulers used their forces for shedding the blood of women and children in Yemen giving a blind eye to the security of pilgrims during hajj rituals.”

The Sunni cleric beckoned to Saudi willful measures in Muslims countries including Yemen emphasizing on account of such policy, “Saudi officials has no place among Islamic countries.”

Hajj Aba Akhound Derakhshan underlined the crimes perpetrated by Saudi officials in Muslims countries would be registered in Muslims’ mind forever and definitely unforgivable.

On the behalf of Sunni clerics in North KHorasan, President of Karimi Seminary slammed Saudi officials who are the lap dog of arrogant World and Zionism stressing Al-Saud should feel the full weight of justice for their crimes in the World of Islam.

The number of Iranian pilgrims killed in the recent tragedy in Saudi Arabia’s Mina has increased to 226 with around 250 more still unaccounted for. The Saudi Health Ministry says around 770 people lost their lives in the crush in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, on September 24. However, Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization puts the total number of pilgrims killed in the incident at more than 2,000.