e Saudi leaders. Iran Exploits Hajj Disaster Hoping To Overthrow Saudi Rulers

[Sally]

In the long run, I don't think they have a chance of overthrowing the Saudi leaders.


Iran Exploits Hajj Disaster Hoping To Overthrow Saudi Rulers
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BY THOMAS MCARDLE

06:55 PM ET

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Of all the possible disasters that could take place in the Middle East, it's hard to imagine one more terrifying than the demise of the Saudi royal family as rulers of Saudi Arabia. If the land of Mecca, Islam's holiest site, were to go under the rule of an Iranian ayatollah or the Islamic State caliphate or the Taliban, it could unite and empower jihadists like never before.

As smitten as we all are of rule of, by and for the people, democracy is something that you don't want the nearly 30 million residents of Saudi Arabia to get anywhere near. The extreme strain of Islam that dominates in the kingdom, Wahhabism, spawned Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, and who the Saudi people would end up electing into power is a nightmare that the free world should hope it never experiences.

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Iran Exploits Hajj Disaster Hoping To Overthrow Saudi Rulers

 

[aris2chat]

of course

 

[waltky]

Iran gonna sue Saudi Arabia over hajj tragedy...

Iran vows legal action against Saudi after hajj disaster
26 Sept.`15 — Iran on Saturday vowed to take international legal action against Saudi Arabia's rulers over the crush of Muslim pilgrims at this year's hajj, which killed at least 769 people, including 136 Iranians, and has led to an escalation of tensions between the regional archrivals.

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir later responded to Iran's criticism, telling reporters in New York that "I believe that the Iranians should know better than to play politics with a tragedy that has befallen people who were performing their most sacred religious duty, which is the pilgrimage." The pilgrims suffocated or were trampled to death Thursday when two massive crowds converged on a narrow street, in the worst disaster to occur during the annual pilgrimage in a quarter-century. Shiite Iran has accused Sunni Saudi Arabia of mismanaging the pilgrimage, which annually draws some 2 million people from 180 countries.

Emergency services attend to victims crushed in a crowd in Mina, Saudi Arabia during the annual hajj pilgrimage on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015. Hundreds were killed and injured, Saudi authorities said. The crush happened in Mina, a large valley about five kilometers (three miles) from the holy city of Mecca that has been the site of hajj stampedes in years past.

Iranians comprise the largest group of casualties identified so far. Iranian state TV says a former ambassador to Lebanon, as well as two Iranian state TV reporters and a prominent political analyst are among those still missing. The semi-official Fars news agency said a former ambassador to Slovenia was among the dead. "Under international law, this incident is absolutely subject to prosecution. The Al-Saud must be responsive," Iran's State Prosecutor Ebrahim Raisi told state TV, referring to Saudi Arabia's ruling family. He said Saudi authorities blocked a road used by hajj pilgrims to allow a royal convoy to pass through, causing the deadly convergence in the town of Mina on the outskirts of Mecca. "They have to know that we will pursue the trial of Al-Saud for the crime they have committed against the hajj pilgrims through international courts and organizations."

Neither Iran nor Saudi Arabia is a state party to the International Criminal Court, and only the court's prosecutor can file charges. Iran could try to file a case at the International Court of Justice, which handles disputes between nations but does not mete out criminal justice. Saudi Arabia has not responded to the Iranian accusations regarding the convoy. Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki told The Associated Press that a VIP convoy traveling through Mina on Thursday, which included foreign dignitaries, had nothing to do with the incident and was in a different part of town. He said VIPs use their own roads in Mina.

Muslim pilgrims walk in a tunnel on their way to cast stones at Jamarrat pillars, a ritual that symbolises the stoning of Satan, during the annual pilgrimage, known as the hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Iran and Saudi Arabia are bitterly divided on a host of regional issues and support opposite sides in the wars raging in Syria and Yemen. The accusations of mismanagement of the pilgrimage strike at a key pillar of the Saudi royal family's prestige -- King Salman holds the title of the "custodian of the two holy mosques." Iran's President Hassan Rouhani began an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday by expressing "regret over the heart-rending incident," emphasizing the "need for swift attention" to an investigation into "this incident and other similar incidents in this year's hajj." The Saudi foreign minister, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, said that "we will reveal the facts when they emerge. And we will not hold anything back. If mistakes were made, who made them will be held accountable. And we will make sure that we will learn from this, and we will make sure that it doesn't happen again."

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[montelatici]

The best thing that could happen would be the overthrow of the Saudi Wahabi Islamists.

 

[Sally]

The best thing that could happen would be the overthrow of the Saudi Wahabi Islamists.

The best thing that could happen is for the crazies ruling in Iran to be thrown out by the people. I don't know any Saudis, but I have met many, many Iranians -- in my neighborhood and general area and working with them. If it were so great in Iran under these crazies, we wouldn't have seen mass immigration into the U.S. and other countries. Many of the older ones have said that they would move back to Iran if these crazies weren't in power since they miss their old country. Of course, the younger Iranians love America, coming here at a young age, so certainly wouldn't consider moving back. At an interview in the Los Angeles Times with an Iranian comedian, he told the reporter that every time he goes back to Iran to visit relatives, his cousins ask him how do they get to America as they would like to leave. In fact, there are still Iranians coming out here to live. When I ask the young women cashiers at a store in my neighborhood how long they have been in America, they say three years, five years, etc. The last one said three months. Since there are loads of Iranians living in my neighborhood, these girls are no doubt hired for the Farsi they can speak to the Iranian shoppers, the same way this same chain hires Mexicans to speak to the customers in their areas.. Good business practice.

 

[montelatici]

The Saudis are the Wahabi crazies, not the Iranians.

 

[Sally]

The Saudis are the Wahabi crazies, not the Iranians.

Of course, Haniyah, you are entitled to your opinion (about your favorite sect). However, no doubt the thousands and thousands of people who fled the crazies in Iran will have a different opinion from yours. People don;t climb over mountains. as many Iranians did to escape, for no reason at all to get out of the country of their origin.

 

[Manonthestreet]

Word is death toll is much higher than reported

 

[Sally]

Word is death toll is much higher than reported

I heard that too -- about 1000 or so. This has happened so many times in the past that you would think this thing would be better planned out. Such a shame that many of these people save for a lifetime to go and then this happens to them.

 

[Manonthestreet]

Try higher......

 

[Sally]

Try higher......

Try higher......

Well, give us the figure you have.