Saudi Gov’t Negligence Caused Mecca Catastrophe, Says Larijani

Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani on Sunday issued a condolence message over the deadly crane collapse in Mecca saying it was Saudi government’s negligence that caused the incident.

107pilgrims have reportedly lost their lives in the crane fall caused by storms in Mecca on Friday with 238 others wounded.

In his message, Larijani regretted that Hajj rituals coincided with this sad incident.

Noting that the Saudi government should have devised the necessary preparations to safeguard the lives of the pilgrims, he called on the Saudi officials to immediately probe into the case.

Larijani sympathized with the families of the victims and wished immediate recovering for those injured in the incident.

The tragedy occurred when a crane crashed through the ceiling of the Grand Mosque of Mecca, the largest mosque in the world, amid high winds and thunderstorms on Friday afternoon.

Five Iranian pilgrims were killed in the crash, and seven other Iranians are still missing.

32Iranian pilgrims were also wounded in the incident who are said to be in good health conditions.

Iran slams continuation of Saudi military aggression against Yemen

On the other hand, a senior Iranian diplomat has slammed continuation of the Saudi war on Yemen during the Hajj pilgrimage, saying the military aggression defies constructive diplomacy and peace.

“Yemen will have no military winner,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Sunday, adding that Iran has presented an appropriate political solution to help Riyadh get out of the ongoing crisis in Yemen.

“Tehran supports national dialog among all Yemeni sides,” the Iranian diplomat said.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in April, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif submitted a four-point peace plan on Yemen in an attempt to end the bloodshed in the Arab country. The proposal stresses the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Yemenis as well as dialog among various groups in the country.

Amir-Abdollahian said UN efforts to dispatch humanitarian aid to Yemen, lift the Saudi blockade on the country, and put an end to war and bloodshed have failed due to the lack of cooperation on the part of Saudi Arabia and the questionable silence of some Arab and Western countries.

In a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and bring back to power Riyadh’s staunch ally and fugitive former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, Saudi Arabia started its military aggression against its southern neighbor on March 26 without a UN mandate.

According to the UN, the conflict has so far left about 4,500 people dead and thousands of others wounded. Local Yemeni sources, however, say the fatality figure is much higher.

IRNA, Press T.V

R.S