Iran appears to have lost the largest number of pilgrims, with at least 464 dead.
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President Hassan Rouhani was among several senior officials attending a repatriation ceremony Saturday at the Tehran airport as the plane arrived.
Iranian officials have accused Saudi authorities of incompetence in their handling of safety at the hajj, further souring relations already strained by the civil war in Syria and conflict in Yemen.
“If it is proven that a few officers were culpable, under no circumstances will we let the blood of our loved ones go in vain”, Rouhani said.
Saudi Arabia’s management of the annual pilgrimage has been a divisive issue in parts of the Muslim world for decades as the haj has grown in scale and danger.
According to Saudi officials, 769 people died in the crush in Mina.
“It should be clarified who were responsible for the incident”, Rouhani said, adding that Iran will never abstain from the damages inflicted on its nationals in Mina if it is proved that a few Saudi authorities caused the disaster.
The bodies of the remaining victims, a few of whom have not been identified yet, are kept in cold storage facilities in Mecca and Jeddah.
The flight carrying the bodies of 104 Iranian Hajj victims landed in Tehran early Saturday.
Manzoor ul Haq, Pakistan’s ambassador to Riyadh, confirmed the death toll, saying that 55 pilgrims were still missing.
On Friday, the Moroccan pilgrims organized a sit-in to denounce mismanagement and lawlessness that marked this year’s Hajj. Saudi Arabia denies this.
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He emphasized that the Mina “disaster” was a “big test” for all, including the Iranian government and nation, the Saudi government, worldwide organizations and Muslim countries. Egypt has 124 dead and 70 missing, and Indonesia has 91 dead.
