Iranian Protesters Blame Saudi Arabia's Mismanagement for Deaths in Mina
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Thousands of Iranian protesters took to the streets across the country on Friday and strongly condemned the Saudi government over the deaths of hundreds of Hajj pilgrims, including over 130 Iranians in a stampede in Mina, near Mecca.
Iranian people poured into the streets after the Friday Prayers and chanted slogans against the Saudi authorities.
The protesters stressed that the Saudis' mismanagement was the main reasons behind the Mina stampede.
They also lambasted the ongoing Saudi aggression against Yemen, and called for a swift end to the regime’s crimes against the impoverished country.
According to media reports, at least 1300 pilgrims were killed Thursday in the stampede outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the worst disaster to strike the annual Hajj pilgrimage in 25 years.
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei declared 3 days of national mourning over the deaths of the pilgrims.
Photographs published on the Twitter feed of the Saudi civil defense Thursday showed pilgrims lying on stretchers while emergency workers in high-visibility jackets lifted them into an ambulance.
The accident came nearly two weeks after tens of Hajj pilgrims were killed in another tragic incident in Mecca.
On September 11, a massive construction crane crashed into Mecca’s Grand Mosque in stormy weather, killing at least 107 people and injuring 201 others.
Saudi authorities have been blasted for their failure to ensure the safety of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who converge on Mecca for Hajj every year.
The Hajj, the world’s largest annual gathering of people, has been the scene of numerous deadly stampedes, fires and riots in the past.
Safety during Hajj is a politically sensitive issue for the kingdom’s ruling Al Saud dynasty, which presents itself internationally as the custodian of its holiest places in Mecca and Medina.
