TEHRAN - Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said that the Saudi government should accept its heavy responsibility for the Mina disaster.

His remarks came upon deadly incident in Mina and the deaths of several hundred Hajj pilgrims, including at 131 Iranian nationals.

The following is the full text of his message issued on Thursday, September 24, 2015:

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

“To Allah we belong, and to Him we return” [The Holy Quran, 2: 156].

Today’s catastrophic event in Mina, during which a large number of God’s guests and believers who had migrated towards God from different countries lost their lives, caused great sorrow in the world of Islam and turned their Eid into mourning. In our dear country too, tens of families, who were eagerly waiting for their dear ones to return from their hajj pilgrimage, are now mourning for them.

With a sorrow-stricken heart and sympathy towards the bereaved, I offer my condolences on the occasion of this grievous event - to the immaculate soul of the Great Messenger (God’s greetings be upon him and his household), to the holy presence of God’s Wali, the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him) who is the principle mourner of this tragedy, to all the families of the deceased and to all mourners throughout the world of Islam particularly in dear Iran.

I ask God the Forgiving, the Merciful, and the Rewarding to bestow His special mercy on these honorable guests of His and to help, with His kindness, the injured to recover as soon as possible.

I would like to point out the following matters:

1. My representatives and the Hajj Organization should continue their strenuous effort - as they did throughout today - to identify the deceased, to cure the injured, to return them back to the country, and to provide the public with information in this regard as quickly as possible. And all people who can help them in this effort should do so.

2. They should also extend their help to pilgrims from other countries in whatever ways they can and they should fulfill their brotherly and Islamic obligation towards them.

3. The Saudi government should accept its heavy responsibility in this bitter event and it should meet its obligations based on the principles of truth and fairness. The mismanagement and improper measures that caused this catastrophe should not be overlooked.

4. By Allah’s favor, those who lost their lives in this event are among those mentioned in this enlightened Quranic ayah: “He who forsakes his home in the cause of Allah, finds in the earth many a refuge, wide and spacious. Should he die as a refugee from home for Allah and His Messenger, His reward becomes due and sure with Allah” [The Holy Quran, 3: 100].

This is a great comfort for the families of the deceased. They rushed towards the Worshipped after doing tawaf, endeavoring in the way of God and spending the blessed hours of Arafat and Mash’ar and while performing hajj rituals. For this reason, they will benefit from the One’s grace and mercy.

With my condolences once again to the mourners, I declare three days of national mourning in the country.