Statements in Meeting with Families of the Martyrs of Mina and the Grand Mosque Incident

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his pure family.

First of all, welcome to the dear families of our oppressed martyrs in Mina and the Grand Mosque last year. Every year before the Hajj season, we have a public meeting similar to this one with those involved in Hajj, some managers, and some esteemed pilgrims; those sessions were joyful and sweet. A group of our people, sincere believers, young and old from all over the country, would set out for Hajj, and one would feel proud; one would feel happy that they are going among Muslims from other countries and fulfilling the Hajj obligation; however, this year our meeting is unfortunately not a joyful one; it is a meeting of sorrow and tragedy and a reminder of the painful incident that occurred last year in Mina. The issue of the loss of our dear ones in Mina is a very important matter.

When we said this [incident] should not be forgotten, it is not merely about losing loved ones; the incident is significant; it has various dimensions; it is enlightening politically, socially, morally, and religiously. Well, for us, the people of Iran, and certainly for the survivors of these martyrs in other countries, the incident is a sorrowful one; this [sorrow] is natural and justified. Our hearts are filled with grief, filled with sorrow. The passage of time has not diminished the importance of this incident and the grief of this incident from our hearts and souls. We are saddened by this incident; our dear ones passed away in Mina and also in the Grand Mosque while worshipping, they left this world with thirsty lips; they endured the scorching sun in the last hours of their lives; all of this is painful; these are things that hurt our hearts; we cannot forget them; but the dimensions of the issue are broader than this.

One perspective is that of you families and survivors. I tell you that the loss of your loved ones, whether those who have lost their fathers or mothers, those who have lost their children in this incident, those who have lost their spouses, or those who have lost their brothers and sisters, is naturally a heavy and very difficult incident for you; I, in my own mind, when I compare, understand the magnitude and heaviness of your grief. I realize how heavy it is for your hearts; a pilgrim has been sent to Mecca, with hope, with joy, with happiness that he has achieved this blessing; they await his return, his return is accompanied by joy, with happiness; [but] then they find out that his corpse will return; this is very hard, very difficult. It is hard for you, for the entire nation - that is, for those who truly understand and feel this incident - this incident is hard; but what can comfort your hearts is that these dear ones of yours, although they have been lost and their absence is hard for you, are, God willing, immersed in divine grace. Their death was a good one; the quality of a person's death determines their fate; all of us will go, there is no distinction between young and old, male and female, everyone goes; however, some departures are such that if one looks with the eye of truth, they become pleased and happy with that kind of departure; like the martyrs, all martyrs are like this. Your dear ones left this world while worshipping and remembering God, they left in the state of Ihram, with hearts attentive to the Almighty God and while fulfilling their duties; all of these are means for divine forgiveness, for divine mercy, and for exalted ranks before the Lord. In addition to this, they endured hardships; some may have lived for hours, under pressure, whether under the sun, or in those hot and warm containers, with thirsty lips; all of these are things that attract divine mercy. Yes, you are grieving, you are afflicted; your children, your spouses, your fathers and mothers, your brothers and sisters have left you, this is hard but remember what state they are in now. We are trapped here; we are in worldly trials, amidst a world polluted by various misleading and corrupting elements and factors, and we are struggling to move forward on our path; we [are the ones who] are trapped here; we should shed more tears and be sadder for ourselves than for those who have gone into divine mercy, and God willing, are in the embrace of divine grace and kindness. This is a source of comfort for you. Yes, your young one has gone, or your father and mother have gone, or your dear spouse has gone, this is hard but he is in the proximity of divine grace. We too will go, may God have mercy on us; with all these troubles, with all these problems. The Almighty God saved them from the polluted world, in the best place and the best condition; while worshipping. Some die in sin, some die in ordinary daily life, some die in ingratitude; these kinds of deaths are truly a cause of grief and mourning for their owners; but some die while remembering God, while being attentive to God. This is a source of comfort and ease for the owners of the deceased and the lost. This is one dimension of the issue.

Another dimension of the issue is the matter of the Islamic Ummah. The Islamic Ummah, in its broad dimensions, mourned this incident. Well, our martyrs, the martyrs of Mina and the martyrs of the Grand Mosque numbered about 470 or 480, but what the statistics show is that the total martyrs from various countries are around seven thousand! This figure is very high. Why did governments, families, and nations in other countries not react to this incident? What a great calamity has befallen the Islamic Ummah? This is a great tragedy. Governments are caught in political awkwardness, politicians in various countries are sometimes trapped by money, power, and political relations, [but] why have their scholars remained silent? Why have their clerics not spoken? Why have political activists not spoken? Why have their intellectuals not written articles, protested, or spoken? Of course, in other countries, there were not as many martyrs as ours, but a hundred, two hundred in countries like Egypt, Mali, Nigeria, and others were martyred. Well, now the heads of countries are caught in political equations and power equations, they [do not protest], one does not expect much from them with the unfortunate situation that governments have, one cannot expect much; but why did the prominent individuals of society not speak, why did they remain silent? For the Islamic world, this is the calamity, this is the tragedy; insensitivity to such a great incident in the House of God, next to the House of God, where some, with audacity and shamelessness, have gone through a heavy and disgraceful incident, without even apologizing to the Islamic world.

The Saudi rulers did not offer a verbal apology to the Islamic world! How shameless and audacious they are! Is this negligence they have shown, this mismanagement, this incompetence - now some say it was intentional, even if it is not - the very essence of this mismanagement and incompetence is a crime for a governmental and political entity; how could you not manage? How could you not ensure the safety of this gathering of the guests of the Merciful, the guests of God, and you earn so much income from this area, and create a title for yourselves, and not be able to protect it? What guarantee is there that similar incidents will not occur in similar times? This is a big question. The Islamic world must hold them accountable, must ask them; why do they not ask? The calamities of the Islamic world are these. That the Islamic Republic stands alone against all this ignorance, all this misguidance, all this materialism, all this negligence and sometimes lack of honor from others, and openly and explicitly declares its Quranic positions, its Islamic positions, its rightful positions, this is the indicator that you, the Iranian nation, should be proud of and you do. And it is you, the Iranian nation, who have created this power, this courage to be able to speak the truth and express the truths in the face of a dark ignorant world. The truth is that those who showed this incompetence, who imposed this insecurity on the pilgrims of the Islamic world - who gather there once a year - are not worthy of managing the two holy shrines, they are not worthy of serving the two holy shrines; this is the reality of the matter. This must be established in the Islamic world, this thought must be promoted. This is another dimension of the issue.

Another dimension is the perspective on the world that claims to uphold human rights. Well, in one place, a person is executed or imprisoned on some charge, you see the human rights uproar rises - of course, in those countries where there is motivation to oppose and fight against them - they create a commotion; [but] here several thousand people lose their lives due to the incompetence and mismanagement and misconduct of a government, and these human rights organizations and governments that claim to uphold human rights fall silent and do not speak; they say nothing! This is also an important point. Those who place their hopes in international organizations and institutions should see this truth, understand this reality; they should see how much lies and falsehood exist in the identity of these organizations and these establishments; in this case, they remained silent, said nothing. Sometimes even animal rights gain so much importance for them that they create a fuss, [but] several thousand humans in such an incident - not an accidental incident, not a plane crash, [but] in an incident where those who were supposed to manage this incident had duties; they are the so-called owners there, they are responsible, it was their duty to ensure the safety of these people - are slaughtered and they say nothing; they remain completely silent!

One of the necessary and obligatory tasks for the officials of the Islamic Ummah and the claimants of human rights is to form a fact-finding committee regarding this incident; they must go and clarify the truth; although a year has passed, interviews have been conducted, photographs have been taken, and documents exist that can clarify the truth to a large extent; they must go as a fact-finding group, uncover the truth; it must be made clear whether the Al Saud are guilty or not - they say we are not guilty - it must be clarified, the reality of the matter must be revealed that they are guilty or not. This wicked and accursed lineage and tree, they silence mouths with money, these servants of money and worldly possessions do not allow anyone to speak against them, to protest. A fact-finding committee is necessary, they must go and see closely, investigate the matter; however long it takes. This is one of the tasks that our esteemed officials must consider and pursue and give importance to. This is another dimension of the matter.

Another dimension of the matter is to know that in this incident and similar incidents, the powers supporting Al Saud are also complicit. Yes, the Americans were not present in the Mina incident; however, at the same time, their hands are stained with the blood of our Mina martyrs. These ill-performing rulers, with the support of American power and in conjunction with America, can stand so audaciously against the Islamic world and commit this great sin and not even apologize; it is with their support, thus they are complicit; just as in the case of Yemen, in various issues of the Islamic world - in the case of Syria, in the case of Iraq, in the case of Bahrain - if any harm or damage befalls Muslims, the Americans are complicit in the crime and atrocity; it is their support that enables these shameless ones to commit such crimes and betray and stab the Islamic Ummah in the back; this is the reason.

One more important point is that the propaganda and indeed the espionage apparatus of the West and their ilk try to portray this as a conflict between [Islamic] communities; a conflict between Shia and Sunni, a conflict between Arab and non-Arab; this is a pure lie, this is not a conflict between Shia and Sunni. Most of those who were martyred in the Mina incident were from the Sunnis; many families from our own country are Sunni; it is not a matter of Arab and non-Arab; they do not show mercy to Arabs or non-Arabs; you see they commit atrocities in Yemen, well Yemen is Arab, Syria is Arab, Iraq is Arab, their agents, these cruel and heartless terrorist groups that with their money and weapons, create all these tragedies in the Islamic world, they are all Arabs; it is not a matter of Arab and non-Arab. This malicious Western propaganda [is] that wants to account this as a conflict between Shia and Sunni or a conflict between Arab and non-Arab, this is one of their wicked propaganda that is completely contrary to reality. The issue is that these are a group within Islam [that] are working as enemies of the Islamic Ummah; now some of them knowingly, some unknowingly.

The Islamic world must stand against them; the Islamic world must disassociate itself from them and their masters, the wicked Americans and the Western powers that are faithless and devoid of ethics; they must know what they are doing. The Iranian nation has raised the banner of independence, has shown the dignity of Islam. Today, your slogans, your position, the situation you have created, the great popular movements, this independence in the face of the wave of sedition and corruption that is prevalent in the West - these are sources of pride for Islam, sources of dignity for Islam. This dignity has been created by the Iranian nation and, God willing, will continue.

We hope that the Almighty God will make the dear Iranian nation more and more honored and esteemed day by day; increase the strength and power of the Islamic Ummah; remove these afflictions from the Islamic world, God willing; and that our esteemed officials who have had and have responsibilities regarding this great incident will pursue these responsibilities; both the esteemed Martyrs Foundation and the organization related to Hajj - the Mission and the Hajj Organization - whatever responsibilities they have regarding this important issue [must be pursued]; just as they have attended to many of these matters so far, they must also address this with seriousness; both government officials and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and [others]; each has tasks to fulfill; this issue is an important one, a great issue and it does not pertain to one group or one gathering, it pertains to the Islamic Ummah and the Iranian nation and in a broader perspective pertains to the Islamic Ummah; we all have responsibilities. May God, God willing, help us to fulfill all our duties.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.