“This is a place where other pilgrims need serenity.to feel at peace”, he said, adding that citizens of more than 50 nations participate in the Hajj each year and keep politics out of it.
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“The countries in the region and the entire Islamic world must coordinate their actions in order solve these problems and apply some sanctions to the Saudi government”, stated Rouhani.
Relations between Shi’ite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia, which back opposing sides in Syria and other conflicts, plummeted after the 2015 crush.
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said the “accursed tree” of Saudi Arabia rulers, Al Saud, did not deserve to manage holy sites in the Gulf Kingdom.
Over 5,000 pilgrims, including 461 Iranians, were killed in a deadly stampede occurred in Mina on September 24, last year, due to the mismanagement of the Saudi rulers to handle the Hajj rituals.
Shiite Iran and Sunni-led Saudi Arabia – long considered regional arch-foes – have been in a row over the annual Hajj.
Pilgrims from Iran will be unable to attend haj, which officially starts on September 11, this year after talks between the two countries on arrangements broke down in May.
Iran’s president called on the Muslim world on Wednesday to “punish” Saudi Arabia following last year’s hajj crush and stampede that killed over 2,400 people, the latest criticism by Iran ahead of the annual pilgrimage.
Reacting to Iran’s critic point, Saudi Arabia’s top cleric, Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh, has said Iranians are “not Muslims”.
The two countries severed diplomatic relations in January after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric and angry Iranian crowds overran Saudi diplomatic missions.
A year ago more than two million Muslims from around the world made the journey to Mecca – Islam’s holiest place. One year later, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with the families of those who lost their lives and called for an global investigation into the stampede. “They murdered them”, the Iranian leader wrote.
In July, three separate bombings struck Saudi Arabia on a single day, including a blast next to the mosque in Medina where the prophet is said to be buried.
“Magi” was a reference to the Zoroastrian religion that was prevalent in Iran before Islam, and is sometimes used as an insult against Iranians.
The stampede at last year’s hajj left 769 people dead, according to the Saudi government.
Sheikh said such efforts would fail “because all Muslims trust what the (Saudi) government is doing” in providing services for pilgrims and with its work to improve facilities at the holy sites.
Responding to a question about Monday’s comments by Khamenei, Al-Asheikh said he was not surprised by them.
The dispute escalated after Tehran demanded that Iranian pilgrims be allowed to perform certain practices – forbidden by the Saudi authorities – during the Hajj.
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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef on Monday defended his country’s preparedness for the hajj.
