TEHRAN – A senior member of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) has stressed that the country will not appear lax on Mina Tragedy, holding Riyadh responsible for the disaster, Mehr reported on Friday.

Hinting at Saudi Arabia’s animosity toward Iran, parliamentary Cultural Committee Deputy Chairman Ahmad Salek Kashani urged the country’s foreign ministry to fight for the rights of the Iranian families who lost their beloved during the incident through political and legal channels. 
“The tragedy is similar to an incident that took place under King Fahd, during which scores of pilgrims were killed. However, the Americans’ hands were behind that incident,” Salek pointed out.
He further encouraged Iran’s foreign ministry as well as Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization of Iran (HPOI) to take legal actions against Saudi Arabia through taking the case to the international arbitration.
At least 460 Iranians were among thousands of pilgrims who died on September 24, 2015, in a stampede which broke out in Mina, near Mecca, during the Hajj pilgrimage.
The crush was the deadliest disaster in the history of hajj pilgrimage, once again indicating the Saudis’ inability to guarantee the safety of pilgrims. 
Iran has repeatedly criticized Saudi Arabia for falling short of ensuring the safety of pilgrims. As Riyadh failed to address the Islamic Republic’s concerns regarding the safety of the pilgrims, Iran announced on May 29 that it won’t dispatch pilgrims this year to Mecca.

MH/AK