Iran had pulled out the Hajj page from its political playbook, exploiting it as another desperate move against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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Tens of thousands of Iranian pilgrims are absent from this year’s Hajj as tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran flare over last year’s stampede, which killed more than 400 Iranians according to Tehran – the largest number of deaths reported by any country.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly started issuing special e-bracelets to the members of the annual Hajj pilgrimage which is to start on Friday.
Protesters also chanted slogans against the US, Britain and Israel. “It’s a crime and they must be tried”, said Javad Zolfaghari, a cleric who joined the protests. “They have stabbed Muslims in the heart”.
“If I die or if there are problems – of course we hope not – but if it does happen I know I will be identified”, he told AFP. “But the Al Saud family are puppets of Britain and America, they are fighting proxy wars against Shiites and against all Muslims”.
The authorities have put in place new measures to prevent a recurrence of last year’s stampede, which killed around 2,300 pilgrims. Iran had the highest confirmed death toll among foreign nationalities in the Mina tragedy. Mali said it lost 305 people, while Nigeria lost 274.
Local media say more than 300,000 faithful from inside Saudi Arabia are also expected.
The Interior Ministry’s spokesman said this today as the authorities launched the security plan for this Hajj season, which will reach a climax weekend with pilgrims climbing Mount Arafat, as part of the religious rites.
Beyond the politicisation of the hajj and its organisation, the memories of last year’s crush will prove hard to forget for those involved.
Ohadi said the last straw in the hajj talks was a demand from the Saudis that Iranian pilgrims “cannot have any contact with any Muslim from any other country”, despite the Koranic verses’ emphasis on the importance of mingling with Muslims from around the world during the pilgrimage.
“I said, minister, this is really amusing”. Saudi’s grand mufti countered by claiming that Iranians are “not Muslims”.
“What happened a year ago is unacceptable”. Saudi Arabia announced an investigation but no results have ever been released, although a number of safety measures have been taken.
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Razi added that the public in Iran has split into two camps, one completely enraged by the regime’s wrongdoing and imposition against its own people, denying them their basic religious rights.
