Iran Forms Committee Regarding Missing Iranians from Mina Incident

More than two weeks after the Mina incident, an Iranian Foreign Ministry official stated that the ministry has formed a committee to follow up on the status of 65 missing Iranians from this event. Additionally, the bodies of 87 other Iranian pilgrims were transferred from Saudi Arabia to Tehran on Monday afternoon. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Deputy for Arab and African Affairs at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, emphasized in an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) that the ministry continues to search for the missing Iranians from the Mina incident, including Ghazanfar Roknabadi, the former Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, and that the committee formed for this purpose will continue its work to determine the definitive status of each missing person. Iranian authorities have so far received the bodies of 397 Iranian pilgrims from the Saudi government, with 308 bodies returned to the country in recent days; however, the transfer of the bodies of 87 other pilgrims was delayed due to 'legal formalities' until Monday when Saeed Ohadi, head of Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, announced that these bodies would be transferred to Tehran that afternoon. Meanwhile, there is still no news about the fate of 65 Iranian pilgrims, with Saeed Ohadi stating to Mehr News Agency that 'unfortunately, due to the changes in the appearance of the bodies in the morgues, the search process has slowed down and we need DNA tests, which we hope will accelerate.' This Iranian official had previously suggested that the Saudi government may have buried some of the Iranian pilgrims on-site. According to him, the Saudis buried about 1,400 bodies in two phases, but since the Saudi side promised that none of the Iranian deceased would be buried in that country, Tehran hopes that this has not occurred. However, Hossein Nourollahi, the parliamentary deputy and spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, stated in an interview with the House of Parliament News Agency that 'a small number of the deceased in this incident were buried in Saudi Arabia with the consent of their families.' He also mentioned the possible burial of other Iranian pilgrims' bodies in Saudi Arabia, noting that since fingerprints and a nail were taken from the bodies for DNA testing, there is a possibility of identifying them and transferring their bodies back to Iran. The Mina incident and the deaths of hundreds of Iranian pilgrims have escalated tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia to the point where Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, accused Riyadh of irresponsibility regarding this incident and warned that if Iran reacts, the response will be harsh and severe. In this context, Mahmoud Alavi: The Ministry of Intelligence is responsible for investigating the Mina incident; continuing reactions to the Mina incident; the possibility of 'arresting' some pilgrims in Saudi Arabia; Amir-Abdollahian: Two Iranian pilgrims arrested in Saudi Arabia have been released; Khamenei's representative in Hajj: The arrest of pilgrims is not true.