Khamenei's Renewed Attack on Saudi Rulers: This Accursed Tree Does Not Deserve to Manage the Two Holy Shrines

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, called for the formation of an Islamic-international fact-finding committee to investigate the realities of the Mina incident. His statements were made on Wednesday, September 7, 2016, during a meeting with the families of the victims of last year's Mina tragedy and the crane collapse at the Grand Mosque, accompanied by severe criticisms of Saudi officials and rulers. Khamenei accused governments and political activists in the Islamic world of 'absolute silence' regarding the Mina incident and the responsibility of the Saudi government, stating: 'Absolute silence in the face of a government's failure to fulfill its duties and the death of 7,000 innocent and oppressed people has revealed the false identity of those claiming to be global human rights advocates.' A year after the Mina incident, there are discrepancies regarding the death toll, causes, and circumstances of the event, and those responsible have not been identified. Reports from various news agencies, such as Reuters, have indicated that at least 2,070 people died in the Mina incident during the Hajj pilgrimage in October 2015, while Saudi officials reported the death toll as 769. However, some news sources, citing a leaked document from the Saudi Ministry of Health, estimated the death toll to be over 7,400. In another part of his speech, Khamenei described the formation of a fact-finding committee as one of the essential and necessary tasks for Islamic countries and human rights advocates, urging Iranian officials to seriously pursue the establishment of this committee. According to the Supreme Leader, 'If the Al Saud are confident in their claim of innocence regarding the Mina incident, they should not silence mouths with money and allow the fact-finding committee to follow the issue closely.' Khamenei described the Saudi rulers' refusal to issue a verbal apology as 'the height of audacity and shamelessness,' stating: 'Even if there was no intent, such a level of incompetence and mismanagement by a governing and political body is considered a crime.' He reiterated that the negligence and incompetence of the Al Saud in this incident is a renewed proof of the unworthiness of this accursed tree in managing the Two Holy Shrines. The term 'accursed tree,' which Khamenei used in a message two days prior to describe the Saudi rulers, has recently been used as a hashtag by several social media users. The day before, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia reacted to Khamenei's message, asserting that 'Iranians are not Muslims.' On the same day, the leaders of six countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council issued a statement calling Khamenei's remarks 'ugly and offensive.' Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani described the issues between Iran and Saudi Arabia as extending beyond the Hajj. In another part of his speech, the Iranian leader referred to the supporters of the Saudi regime as accomplices in the regime's crimes during the Mina tragedy, emphasizing that 'the shameless Saudi regime, backed by the support of the United States, stands brazenly against Muslims and is shedding blood in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Bahrain; therefore, the U.S. and other supporters of Riyadh are complicit in the crimes of the Saudis.' Khamenei also described the Shiite-Sunni or Arab-non-Arab conflicts as a result of 'the efforts of affiliated propaganda machines,' stating: 'The Al Saud and their created executioner terrorists in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq are leading the Arab people to bloodshed; therefore, contrary to the malicious propaganda of the West, the Saudis are not supporters of the Arab people, and the Mina incident has nothing to do with the fabricated and media-driven Arab-non-Arab conflict.' The Supreme Leader also noted that some of the Iranian victims of the Mina incident were Sunni Iranians. In recent days, as the anniversary of the deaths of Iranian pilgrims in the Mina incident approaches, verbal confrontations between Iranian and Saudi officials have intensified. Following the deaths of over 400 Iranians during the Mina incident and subsequent attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran, political and diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed. Some experts believe that the regional rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia encompasses various aspects, including differing policies in the oil market, and has turned into a proxy war during the conflicts in Yemen and Syria.