The majority of Iranians are Shiite Muslims, while most in Saudi Arabia are Sunni.
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A year after the worst hajj disaster in a generation, Saudi Arabia is issuing pilgrims with electronic bracelets and using more surveillance cameras to avoid a repeat of a crush that killed hundreds and damaged already strained ties with Iran.
Khamenei on Monday denounced the “incompetence” of the Saudi royal family as he met with families of victims of last year’s stampede.
Gulf Arab states earlier accused Iran of trying to politicize the hajj after its supreme leader lashed out at Saudi authorities over their management of the annual pilgrimage. The journey sees millions each year travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the alleged birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and the site of the first revelation of the Quran.
All devout Muslims are expected to perform the Hajj at least once in their lifetime, provided they are fit enough and have the financial means to do so.
Saudi Arabia has led military operations, dubbed Storm Packets Process, against the Iran-backed Ansar Allah, known as the Houthis.
In his response to the stampede, Khamenei accused Saudi officials of “murder”, saying that they left the injured with the dead rather than providing them with medical treatment.
This year, for the first time in nearly three decades, Iranians will not join the annual pilgrimage to the holy places in Saudi Arabia after talks on logistics and security fell apart in May.
He said Saudi authorities had “murdered” some of them, describing Saudi rulers as godless and irreligious.
Mid-week, President Hassan Rouhani joined in: “On top of all its crimes, the Saudi government has also sullied its record this year by blocking the path to God”, the official Islamic Republic News Agency cited him as saying.
Rouhani says “regional countries and the Islamic world should take coordinated measures to punish the government of Saudi Arabia in order to have a real hajj”.
The tension between Tehran and Riyadh was amplified after the Saudi government publicly executed alleged terrorist Shiite preacher Nimr al-Nimr.
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The ayatollah said Riyadh’s negative approach to Iranian pilgrims is partly aggravated by the fact that the Saudis were disappointed with the course of political developments in Iraq, Yemen, and Syria. But the counts of fatalities by countries that repatriated bodies showed different numbers – over 2,000 people or more may have died in the crush, out of which more than 400 of them were Iranians.
