Iran berated Saudi Arabia on Sunday over the deaths of 769 people at
the hajj pilgrimage, demanding an apology and accusing its rival of
seeking to evade blame, while Riyadh in turn accused Tehran of playing
politics with the disaster.
At least 155 Iranian pilgrims died in a crush of pilgrims on Thursday
near Mecca and 300 other Iranians remain unaccounted for, including
former ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi, Iranian state media
has said.
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Muslim countries
should demand Saudi Arabia be held to account for the deaths. The
kingdom presents itself as the guardian of orthodox Islam and custodian
of its holiest places in Mecca and Medina.
"Instead of blaming this and that, the Saudis should accept the
responsibility and apologize to the Muslims and the victims' families,"
Khamenei was quoted as saying on his own website.
"The Islamic world has a lot of questions. The death of more than
1,000 people is not a small issue. Muslim countries should focus on
this," Khamenei said. Other Iranian officials have also alleged the
total death toll is more than 1,000.
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Thursday's disaster, the worst to befall the hajj in 25 years,
happened when two large groups of pilgrims collided at a crossroads in
Mina, a few kilometers east of Mecca, on their way to performing the
"stoning of the devil" ritual at Jamarat.
Acrimony flares up
Shi'ite Muslim Iran is involved in a number of conflicts in Arab
countries, including Iraq, Syria and Yemen, to great opposition from the
Sunni Muslim kingdom. The deaths at Mina have caused the simmering
acrimony between the two countries to flare up.
A cartoon published by Iran's conservative Tasnim news agency
depicted King Salman of Saudi Arabia as a camel trampling pilgrims under
its hooves, while the conservative Kayhan newspaper showed the king
shaking hands with one of the pillars symbolizing the devil in the
hajj's stoning ritual.
ALSO READ: Hajj stampede: Saudi mufti says deaths 'beyond human control'
Meanwhile, the Saudi daily AsSharq al-Awsat appeared to blame
Iranian pilgrims for the disaster. It quoted what it called Iranian
officials as saying a group of 300 Iranian pilgrims had set off to
perform a ritual ahead of their assigned schedule, leading to a
collision with other pilgrims.
The incident cast a shadow over meetings on the sidelines of the 193-nation UN General Assembly in New York.
Speaking in New York, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir accused Iran of exploiting the tragedy for political purposes.
"This is not a situation with which to play politics," he said before
meeting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday. "I would hope
that the Iranian leaders would be more sensible and more thoughtful with
regards to those who perished in this tragedy and wait until we see the
results of the investigation."
Saudi newspaper al-Hayat reported Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad
Jawad Zarif had verbally asked to meet Jubeir on the sidelines of the
assembly but his request was rejected because the request "came in an
arrogant way and out of place".
Iranian Minister of Culture Ali Janati, assigned to probe the
disaster, was quoted by Fars news agency as confirming that Zarif had
asked to meet Jubeir but the request was rejected.
Iran has summoned the Saudi charge d'affaires three times to ask Riyadh for more cooperation over the incident.
"The reports show that Saudis are responsible for this incident by
their mismanagement and negligence," Ali Larijani, Iranian parliament
speaker was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency after the assembly
met to discuss the incident.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also demanded an investigation into
the "heart-rending incident" in a speech at the United Nations on
Saturday.
