He pointed out that all Iranian pilgrims coming from Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand and Africa who applied for Hajj visas have received the visas and they are enjoying their stay in Makkah, adding that they will perform Hajj rituals and will return to their country safely.
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Ashtari said on Thursday that the Islamic Republic of Iran has submitted a complaint to the Interpol over the deadly crush in the Saudi city of Mina on September 24, 2015. “The Kingdom does not allow in any way the occurrence of what is contrary to the rites of the pilgrimage that may disturb security and affect the lives of pilgrims and their safety, be them Iranians or otherwise”.
But even by recent standards, with relations between the rival Middle Eastern powers at an all-time low, the language was tough.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was due to meet later on Wednesday with the families of some of the more than 400 Iranian victims of a stampede that killed almost 2,300 pilgrims at last year’s hajj.
“The hesitation and failure to rescue the half-dead and injured people.is also obvious and incontrovertible”.
Mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia and majority Shiite Iran back opposite sides of the wars in Syria and Yemen, and support opposing political groups in Iraq, Bahrain and Lebanon.
Riyadh-Tehran ties were severed for four years after more than 400 people were killed in Mecca during clashes between Iranian pilgrims staging an anti-US protest and Saudi security forces in 1987.
Ayatollah Khamenei further stressed, “The world of Islam, including Muslim governments and peoples, must familiarize themselves with the Saudi rulers and correctly understand their blasphemous, faithless, dependent and materialistic nature. They have made the divine sanctuary unsafe for everybody”, he charged.
Earlier, the Ministry of Hajj denied that it is blocking Iranian pilgrims from taking part in the pilgrimage.
But Riyadh said Tehran had made “unacceptable” demands, including the right to organise demonstrations “that would cause chaos”.
Negotiations between the two countries over hajj security measures also collapsed earlier this year, prompting Iran to declare it would not be sending any of its citizens to this year’s pilgrimage, which begins this weekend.
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Makkah, Sept. 6 (BNA): Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Mohammed Saleh Benten said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosts and welcomes pilgrims from all over the world.
