Although Riyadh stuck with a death toll of 769, data from foreign officials in more than 30 countries gave a tally nearly three times higher.
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Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Saleh bin Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh said Saudi Arabia was “destined” to watch over Islam’s holy sites, accusing Iran of trying to stir up sectarian discord as some 1.3 million Muslims convened in Mecca this week.
Talks on the hajj between Saudi Arabia and Iran broke down earlier this year after Saudi Arabia executed a top Shiite cleric.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency on Wednesday quoted Rouhani lambasting Saudi Arabia’s response to the 2015 stampede in Mina by saying pilgrims lost their lives because Saudi authorities acted just as “bystanders rather than rescuing” those caught in the disaster. In the deadliest incident of its kind on record, some 2,426 people were killed in a stampede in Mina, Mecca, as they were making their hajj in September of past year, but its cause still remains unclear.
Khamenei said the Saudis did not prosecute those at fault for the stampede, accused them of showing no remorse and said Riyadh had “refused to allow an global Islamic fact-finding committee”.
Riyadh and Tehran are at odds over a raft of regional issues, notably the conflicts in Syria and Yemen in which they support opposing sides.
On Monday, Ayatollah Khamenei questioned Saudi Arabia’s ability to manage and maintain the Holy Places of Islam.
“The language used in (Khamenei’s) statements is inappropriate for the highest authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran”, they said.
A top Saudi cleric has declared that Iranians are “not Muslims” after Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei slammed Saudi Arabia for poorly managing the hajj pilgrimage.
Ayat. Khamenei stressed that another horrific aspect of the Mina stampede was the “deadly silence of the so-called human rights entities”; “Those who have put their faith and hopes into global communities and organizations should learn a lesson from this bitter truth”, he said.
Animosity between Sunnis – who make up an estimated 85-90% of Saudi Arabia’s population – and Shia – about 90-95% of Iran’s population – goes back to a 7th Century schism.
“We have to understand that they [Iran’s leaders] are not Muslims”, he told the Makkah daily.
In a move to shrug off their responsibility for the tragic incident, the Saudi rulers claimed that it was the “destiny” in which no one should interfere.
The stampede killed 2,300 pilgrims, including hundreds of Iranians.
However, tensions between the two nations started deteriorating after Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in January following the storming of its embassy in Tehran.
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Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has been gearing up for the event, fearing a repeat of last year’s tragedy.
