Saudi Arabia’s arch rival Iran blamed the Saudi administration for Thursday’s incident and vowed to take legal action against Saudi rulers in global courts.
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On Saturday, Tehran summoned Saudi Arabia’s charge d’affaires for the third time since the stampede, to press the kingdom for greater cooperation.
The Al Arabiya TV claimed official records show that the name of the former Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi “does not appear among this year’s pilgrims“.
This year more than two million pilgrims traveled to Mecca.
Muslim pilgrims walk in a tunnel on their way to cast stones at Jamarrat pillars during the annual Haj in Mina.
Iran has reported the biggest number of deaths at 136, with Morocco coming next with 87.
Iran’s supreme leader has said Saudi Arabia should apologise for a crush outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca that killed 769 worshippers performing the annual haj pilgrimage, Khamenei’s website said today.
Earlier, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, “Our officials on the ground in Mecca have been working continuously to ascertain information and reach out to family members of missing pilgrims”.
Iranian Culture Minister Ali Janati is to head a delegation to Saudi Arabia to follow up on 323 Iranians, who Teheran says are missing.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Iran was jumping the gun on its criticism and should wait for the Saudi investigation to be concluded.
Fifty-four Nigerians have been confirmed dead from the stampede by National Hajj Commission of Nigeria’s (NAHCON) with many more yet to be accounted for.
An Iranian protester chants slogans while police officers prevent him from approaching to the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, September 27, 2015, during a gathering to blame the Arab country for a deadly stampede on Thursday that killed more than 700 pilgrims.
“This is not a situation with which to play politics”, he said before meeting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
“Under global law, this incident is absolutely subject to prosecution”.
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in an address to United Nations, demanded that an investigation be started into the Hajj accident.
