Iran Doubles Death Toll From Hajj

The high number of dead Iranians was “due to the inefficiency and mismanagement of the Saudi rulers in handling the largest gathering of Muslims”, the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, which oversees its citizens’ participation in the hajj, said in Thursday’s report.

That is well in excess of the official numbers provided by Riyadh, which do not include people unaccounted for.

Culture Minister Ali Janati is to head a delegation to Saudi Arabia to follow up on those missing and injured, but state news agency IRNA said the delegation was still waiting for visas. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Wednesday that Iran will not allow a single Iranian to be buried in Saudi Arabia.

Hours later, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continued Iran’s attacks on Saudi Arabia over its handling of the stampede near the holy city of Mecca, in which hundreds of pilgrims were killed.

According to NAN, during a visit to South-South and South-East camps in Mecca, Sanusi claimed that the Nigerian side had requested transparent investigation from Saudi authorities.

“They should understand the smallest disrespect towards thousands of Iranian pilgrims in Mecca and Medina rather than meeting their duty to transfer sacred bodies will have Iran’s tough and ferocious reaction”.

The missing included four Iranian diplomats, who the ISNA news agency said are thought to have died.

The supreme leader of the Shi’ite theocracy, which is an arch foe of Sunni Muslim bastion Saudi Arabia, also compared the kingdom to pagans who ruled the Arabian Peninsula before the advent of Islam in the seventh century.

However, the Saudi publication AsSharq al-Awsat appeared to lay the blame on Iranian pilgrims for the catastrophe, saying that a group of 300 Iranian worshipers had set off too early and this had led to a collision with other pilgrims.

Tehran has accused Riyadh of hindering its efforts to bring the bodies home.

The Iranian-registered fishing boat was seized about 150 miles (240 kilometers) off the southeast coast of Salalah, Oman, carrying anti-tank shells and firing-guidance systems, the coalition said.

“The information put out by the Ambassador in Saudi Arabia can not be true because that can not be reconciled with what we have here as the communications unit of the board”.