President Rouhani calls for investigation into Mina tragedy

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called for an investigation into the Mina tragedy of September 24 in Saudi Arabia, which led to the deaths of hundreds of people, including over 130 Iranians.

In his speech to the UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York on Saturday, President Rouhani expressed deep regret over the heartbreaking incident and offered his condolences to the bereaved.

He also underlined the need for a probe into the cause of “this incident and similar incidents in this year’s Hajj rituals.”

The Iranian president also called for an immediate follow-up on the treatment of those injured in the incident.

At least 136 Iranian pilgrims have so far been confirmed dead in the deadly crush, according to the head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization. Saeed Ohadi said on Saturday that 102 Iranian pilgrims have also been wounded and 344 others are still missing.

 

 

On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran will hold talks with the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) during an emergency meeting of the group expected to be held on the sidelines of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly to discuss a better handling of the Hajj rituals.

Iran on Saturday summoned the Saudi charge d’affaires for the third time over the Mina incident to receive Tehran’s official protest.

The Islamic Republic called on the Saudi envoy to facilitate the work to follow up on the tragedy and address the fate of Iranian pilgrims.

The Mina incident comes days after a massive construction crane collapsed into Mecca’s Grand Mosque, killing more than 100 people and leaving over 200 others wounded.