He said the ban was in line with a decision by Iran to bar its citizens from performing Hajj this year due to differences with Saudi Arabia.
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“If the existing problems with the Saudi government were merely the issue of the Hajj… maybe it would have been possible to find a way to resolve it and put it in the right direction”, he added.
The diplomatic spat over Islam’s holiest rite began last Monday when Saudi Crown Prince and Interior Minister Muhammad bin Nayef accused Iran of preventing Iranian pilgrims from performing the annual Hajj pilgrimage in order to “politicise” the Hajj.
Saudi Arabia claims almost 770 people were killed in the incident, but Iranian officials say about 4,700 people, including more than 460 Iranians, lost their lives in the tragedy.
For the first time in nearly three decades Iranians will not join the pilgrimage after talks between Tehran and Riyadh on logistics and security fell apart in May.
He accused the kingdom of “murdering” pilgrims during last year’s Hajj, when hundreds and by some accounts thousands were crushed in a stampede, many of them Iranians. This year’s pilgrimage comes amid rising concerns over the Saudi authorities’ incapability to ensure the safety of the pilgrims.
He described Iranian leaders as sons of “magus”, a reference to Zoroastrianism, the dominant belief in Persia until the Muslim Arab invasion of the region that is now Iran 13 centuries ago.
Khamenei wrote on his website that “Saudi rulers” had shown “oppressive behavior” toward hajj pilgrims and because of that should reconsider who manages Mecca and Medina.
Saudi Arabia’s top cleric intensified the kingdom’s rhetoric against Iran, saying in comments published on Tuesday that Tehran’s leaders are “not Muslims” in response to rancorous remarks from Iran’s supreme leader.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, fired back by accusing Riyadh of stoking “sedition and wars” in Syria and Yemen. Iran officially boycotted the hajj for the next three years.
An image from Mina following the stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in September 2015.
Regularly-spaced taps provide thirsty pilgrims with spring water and visitors can eat under large fast food signs at a commercial centre inside the complex – where they are also able to shop. Some 60,000 Iranians took part last year, but have been effectively barred from this year’s event after negotiations between the two countries fell apart.
His claims could not be independently verified.
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Muslim pilgrims pray at Mount Al-Noor ahead of the annual haj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on September 7.
