Though Saudi authorities allocated around 64,000 places for Iranians, none are taking part this year because of a breakdown in negotiations last May over arrangements, including safety measures needed to avoid a repeat of a September 2015 stampede that killed over 2,300 pilgrims.
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Water-resistant and connected to Global Positioning System, the devices will also instruct worshippers on timings of prayers and a multilingual help desk will guide pilgrims around the various rituals.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Naseer al-Omari, an author and political commentator from NY, and Jihad Mouracadeh, a Middle East expert from Beirut, to discuss Saudi Arabia’s mismanagement of the annual Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj. “We don’t come here with fear in our hearts”, said Naouri Abdelkarim, 50, of Casablanca, Morocco. “The pains have not dulled a bit”, but it would be “silly” to stay away, the Nigerian said. Security has also been reinforced around Islam’s holiest site, where officers in red berets and camouflage uniforms man green plastic barricades to control the crowd.
After the disaster ─ the worst ever in Haj history ─ some foreign officials expressed concern about difficulties in identifying the dead.
During the main weekly Friday prayers, a helicopter flew overhead and main roads in the city were shut to allow hundreds of thousands of pedestrians access.
A spiritual journey meant to cleanse the faithful of sin and bring them closer to God, this year’s Hajj is expected to be attended by more than 1.5 million pilgrims.
Pilgrims from overseas are expected to number more than 1.4 million.
Demonstrators also shouted slogans against the United States and Britain, but saved their harshest criticism for Saudi Arabia.
Ms Jane Kinninmont, deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House, a London think-tank, said the stampede exposed “clearly some big organisational failings”.
Mr Zakou Bakar, 50, a pilgrim from Niger, said the bracelet was reassuring.
In 1987, Iranian pilgrims on hajj battled Saudi riot police in clashes that killed at least 402 people.
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“The Arab League secretary general’s supports for the Saudi unconstructive conduct has discredited the league more than ever”, Director General of International Affairs at the Iranian Parliament Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Saturday.
