After a hajj stampede that killed 464 Iranians near the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on Sept. 24, rumors have begun to circulate as to why, after two weeks, 69 Iranians are still unaccounted for.

On Oct. 6, Iran’s Health Minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi said, “Some of the missing may be among the arrested, or in detention centers or prisons of Saudi Arabia, or in hospitals.” Foreign Ministry official Hassan Ghashghavi said, “We do not know if these dear ones have joined God or if they have been detained somewhere. Until their bodies have been returned we can’t speak with certainty about this matter.”

The comments by the two officials made headlines in Iranian media. A number of high-ranking scientists and diplomats were among the hajj pilgrims, and their possible detention or interrogation would expose Iran to security or intelligence risks.

However, today, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s representative to the hajj pilgrimage, Hojat al-Islam Seyed Ali Ghazi Asghar, asked officials not to speculate about the missing Iranians. “News in recent days based on the arrest of a number of Iranian pilgrims is not true,” he said. “All of the hospitals in Saudi Arabia and possible locations that were given where the bodies are held have been searched.” Ghazi Asghar asked Iranians to “not pay attention to rumors.”