Government Spokesman of Rouhani: Iran Will Sue Saudi Arabia Due to Mina Incident

The spokesman for the Iranian government reacted to the statements of the Saudi Foreign Minister regarding Tehran's 'political exploitation' of the 'Rami Jamarat' incident, referring to Saudi Arabia as a 'hostile country' and 'subservient to America,' and stated that Iran would 'file a complaint' against this country. According to ISNA news agency, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht emphasized on Tuesday, October 7, that Iran would use all 'official and unofficial tools' to assert the rights of its pilgrims, stating, 'We will definitely sue the Saudi government.' He did not specify what authority Iran intends to file the complaint with. The Iranian government spokesman described the recent remarks of the Saudi Foreign Minister as 'ridiculous, empty, and deflection,' stating, 'We must accept that we are talking about a hostile country.' Nobakht added, 'Saudi Arabia is subservient to America, but Obama has said that Saudi Arabia is anti-democracy. They should be accountable instead of insulting us.' The Iranian government's statements come as some legal experts, including Saleh Nikbakht, a lawyer, have stated that Iranian law does not define a hostile government, but in the four Geneva Conventions, which the Iranian parliament has ratified, hostile governments are those that are currently at war with another country or have been at war without signing a permanent peace treaty. According to the latest reports from Iranian news sources on Tuesday, the death of 228 pilgrims and the disappearance of another 226 in the Mina incident has been confirmed. Iranian officials attribute the cause of the 'Rami Jamarat' incident on October 2 to the 'mismanagement' of the Saudi government, accusing it of not cooperating with the Iranian Hajj Organization to identify the deceased and follow up on the missing pilgrims. In response to these statements, Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi Foreign Minister, accused Iran of 'political exploitation' of the incident and stated that it would be better for the Iranians to wait for the investigation results to be clarified. He also said in an interview with Al Arabiya on Tuesday, 'Iranians should be the last to criticize the management of the Hajj ceremonies because they have repeatedly tried to disrupt the ceremonies and politically exploit them.' The Iranian government spokesman responded to the Saudi Foreign Minister's remarks, stating that the Saudi government 'has nothing to say, which is why its Foreign Minister hides and does not speak with our Foreign Minister.' Ali Jannati, Iran's Minister of Culture, stated on Saturday that the Saudi Foreign Minister did not accept a meeting with his Iranian counterpart to follow up on the issues related to the 'incident' in Mina. Mr. Zarif also confirmed Mr. Jannati's statements, reporting that in a brief meeting with the Emir of Kuwait, he 'requested' him to 'intervene,' and 'with his intervention and conversation with the King of Saudi Arabia, the situation has improved somewhat.' Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, who had to cut short his trip to New York due to the 'Rami Jamarat' incident, accused the Saudi government of 'carelessness and inefficiency' and stated that from Iran's perspective, this incident is 'not ordinary or normal.' Mr. Rouhani criticized Saudi media reports on the incident, adding, 'Some Saudi media, instead of broadcasting the existing footage, create animations for the people, which is an insult to Islamic nations.' Some television networks close to Saudi Arabia have recently broadcast animations modeling the 'Rami Jamarat' incident in Mina, claiming that the cause of the incident was the movement of Iranian pilgrims. In this context, the number of Iranian casualties in the Mina incident in Saudi Arabia has increased to 228. A former ambassador and a former commander of the IRGC are among the missing in the 'Mina incident.' Protests have taken place in Tehran against the 'ineptitude' of Saudi Arabia. In response to Khamenei's remarks, Bahrain summoned the Iranian chargé d'affaires. Ali Jannati: The Saudi Foreign Minister did not accept a meeting with Zarif. A verbal dispute has arisen between Tehran and Riyadh regarding the fate of the former Iranian ambassador to Lebanon.