Hajj Deaths Add to Tensions Between Iran and Saudi Arabia

He said that from his perspective, this year’s hajj went smoothly and that Saudi officials appeared to be doing all they could to safely manage the pilgrimage. Media reports said the Saudi government has reportedly refused to grant visa to Iranian Culture Minister Ali Janati, who is to head the delegation to the kingdom.

He further demanded Saudi officials to have serious and effective cooperation with regard to identifying and determining the status of all missing Iranians in Mina incident.

Saudi Arabia’s top cleric, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, said at the weekend the stampede was beyond human control and that the authorities are not responsible for what had happened.

Although four Turkish pilgrims in total died in Makkah during Hajj, only two of them were killed in the Mina stampede, a senior Turkish official said Saturday. It said 321 Iranians are still missing.

Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia are already severely strained by conflicts in Yemen and Syria and an global agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme.

“This is not a situation with which to play politics”, he said before meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday.

Iran’s supreme leader has said Saudi Arabia should apologise for a crush outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca that killed 769 worshippers performing the annual hajj pilgrimage, Khamenei’s website said on Sunday.

A day earlier, Iranian President Hassan Rowhani used a major United Nations speech to demand an investigation into the stampede.

“Saudi authorities have released photos of 1,090 pilgrims who have died in (the hajj) stampede”, Swaraj wrote on Twitter.

Iran has claimed the toll in the incident was much higher.

Whatever the case, “we will reveal the facts when they emerge”. It wasn’t immediately clear if other foreign embassies in Saudi Arabia had been given similar photographs.

Saudi’s King Salman has ordered a review of haj plans and the formation of a committee to probe the disaster.

An area is cordoned off at the Grand Mosque in Mecca after a crane collapsed killing dozens, Friday, September 11, 2015.

Zarif also called on Saudis to give Iranian responders access to all hospitals where the injured are being kept.

717 people have been confirmed dead in the incident, 56 of whom are Nigerians.