Close to two million pilgrims have converged in western Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj.
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Nasibullah arrived in the city only days after the arrival in Mecca of Mohamed Bamachan, a Chinese national who also traveled to Saudi Arabia from his home country – a four-month journey – by bicycle.
It comes after Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority said that Iran’s leaders were not Muslims, sparking a harsh exchange with Iran.
If Saudi emergency vehicles had poured water on the thirsty pilgrims or opened the exit routes, the tragedy would not have occurred, Ousi noted.
Last year’s stampede was the worst ever in Hajj history.
This year’s pilgrimage is expected to draw more than a million participants and comes amid heightened political tension between Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran, which has questioned the kingdom’s ability to manage the hajj.
The kingdom has begun issuing pilgrims with identification bracelets, after some foreign officials expressed concern about difficulties in identifying stampede victims.
Last year’s Hajj was marred by a stampede that killed more than 750 people.
Each bracelet has a bar code readable by smartphone.
This would allow authorities to determine the identity and nationality of the pilgrim, as well as gain information about their visa status and place of lodging in Mecca.
Pilgrims from overseas are expected to number more than 1.4 million.
In a message on the occasion earlier on Monday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei strongly slammed “murderous” Saudi rulers for refusing to allow an worldwide probe into last year’s deadly Mina crush, urging Muslims to “correctly understand their (Saudis’) blasphemous, faithless, dependent and materialistic nature”.
The Washington Post notes that numerous protesters turned their ire towards the United States and Israel despite the nominal protest against Saudi Arabia.
Zakou Bakar, 50, a pilgrim from Niger, said the bracelet was reassuring. “Because you are afraid that they will expose what happened a year ago”, the Iranian official said.
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Ohadi said the last straw in the hajj talks was a demand from the Saudis that Iranian pilgrims “cannot have any contact with any Muslim from any other country”, despite the Koranic verses’ emphasis on the importance of mingling with Muslims from around the world during the pilgrimage.
