Tehran claimed last week that Saudi authorities have failed to issue visas for Iranian officials who sought to travel to the kingdom to facilitate the repatriation of the dead and the injured.
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Embarrassingly, Riyadh provides little if any care to ordinary people and it is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has demonstrated disdain for the lives of Muslims.
Saudi authorities have said that the disaster began when two large waves of pilgrims converged on a narrow road last Thursday during the final days of the annual haj in Mina near the holy city of Mecca. That’s a criticism also levied by Indonesia, the Muslim world’s most populous country.
The two regional rivals were already at odds over Iran’s support for Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen, which lies on Saudi Arabia’s southern flank. Combined with the crane collapse this month, which killed more than 100 people, this pilgrimage season has been particularly harrowing. If mistakes were made, those who made them will be held accountable, and we will make sure that we will learn from this in order to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
Saudi state media and officials had no immediate comment on the Iranian announcement, though they say they are investigating what caused the crush and stampede in Mina, just outside Mecca.
Iranian officials have alleged the overall total death toll is more than 1,000.
Abdullah al-Ali, chief executive of the Kuwait-based electronic security firm Cyberkov, said he couldn’t immediately tell whether the false statement came from a cyberattack.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court in the meantime stated it acquired a citizen’s petition asking it to open an investigation into the hajj catastrophe.
Iran’s state IRNA news agency reported Thursday the country’s interior minister visited the ambassador’s family to offer his condolences.
The incident marked the worst Hajj disaster in 25 years.
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The newest numbers add 52 more confirmed dead in the stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage, which ended on Saturday.
