The Iranian official said the deadly incidents during last year’s Hajj rituals in Saudi Arabia have “stigmatized” Al Saud.
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A local media reports that Saudi Arabia security forces were deployed in large numbers in the Jamarat Bridge, a multi-level structure in the desert valley of Mina, where the ritual is being carried out.
Mina- A senior Turkish official said that his country appreciates Saudi Arabia’s flawless organization for Hajj rituals and its professional ability to manage huge crowds on holy sites, confirming that Saudi equipment are enough for four million Pilgrims, not only two millions.
Iran, which is Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, actually banned its citizens from participating in this year’s pilgrimage.
“You realize the mercy of Allah, that we are here to seek his forgiveness and that this hajj, God willing, will make a change in my life where I can change and become a better Muslim”, said Canadian pilgrim Assad Yakoub.
In stifling heat they chanted a traditional hajj incantation, “God, here I am”, spending the most important day of the annual rite in prayer and reading from the Koran.
“The government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Saudi people are generous with every pilgrim from any part of the world”, he said.
During the Hajj pilgrimage a year ago, many Iranians and other Muslims were killed during a deadly human stampede at the site of the ceremony of the stoning of Satan in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca. Official figures reported that of the total attending the pilgrimage this year, 1, 325 372 have traveled from other countries, while 537,000 reside in the kingdom, of which only 170, 492 are Saudis, as others are expatriates living here.
They will spend the day on the mountain and move by sunset to the rocky plain of Muzdalifa, where they will gather pebbles to stone columns symbolizing the devil at another location called Jamarat on Monday, which marks the first day of Eid al-Adha (feast of sacrifice).
Islam regards the site near Mecca as the place where God tested Abraham’s faith by ordering him to sacrifice his son Ismail and where the Prophet Muhammad gave his final sermon. However, Iran, which had the greatest number of deaths among foreign nationals, has put the death toll at about 4,700.
Among these is the distribution of bracelets which store pilgrims’ personal data.
On Sunday, helicopters monitored the crowd flow from the skies, while on the ground, police directed pedestrians and made sure there were no bottlenecks.
Iran cancelled the participation of its pilgrims in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage due to Saudi Arabia’s efforts to create obstacles in the way of Iranians seeking to perform the rituals.
Masses of Iranian faithful held an alternative pilgrimage on Saturday in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, south of the Iraqi capital.
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Tensions between Iran, where Shitte Islam dominates, and Saudi Arabia, where Sunni Islam is the state religion, are running high.
