Iranian pilgrims will not be attending this year’s Hajj pilgrimage over concerns that the Saudi authorities are incompetent to provide security for the pilgrims.
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He said that during negotiations in April and May, the Saudis simply fell back on verses of the Koran holy book stating that anyone who enters Saudi Arabia has “full security”.
Last May, officials from the two countries held talks over arrangements for Iranian citizens in relation to the pilgrimage but failed to reach an agreement.
The pilgrims will be transported on 18,000 buses, of which 1,696 are new. Pilgrims appeared satisfied on Saturday.
During Friday’s protests, demonstrators also shouted slogans against the USA and Britain, long targets of suspicion among Iranian hard-liners.
He said that he considered them to be victims, and not willing perpetrators of identity-fraud – a crime in the Philippines.
Among them was an elderly couple that had sold a hectare of farmland to pay for the Muslim pilgrimage. They tell AFP they have not received the bracelets.
Iran was most affected by the tragedy with at least 464 deaths.
Saudi authorities have stepped up security for the five-day pilgrimage to tightly control the crowd.
Thousands of people protested their country’s absence from the pilgrimage in Tehran.
Around 500 to 700 Indonesians who went for Haj this year carrying Philippine passports are likely to return to their country from Saudi Arabia later this month, media reports said.
“We don’t have any problems with the people of Saudi Arabia”.
“Last year we had those verses in the Koran too”.
The first day of Hajj was traditionally the chance for pilgrims to let their animals drink and to stock up on water.
It follows controversy sparked by his remarks that Iranians were “not Muslims”.
“I forget all of that”, says the young man with a short trimmed beard and long grey jalabiya robe.
Construction work has in some cases crimped space at the holy sites, causing bottlenecks around tightly packed entrances, although no work was being carried out in the Mina vicinity past year. But protesters offered their harshest criticism for Saudi Arabia.
But right from the start, Ohadi said there was “very bad hospitality” and “weird attitudes” from the Saudis – including a refusal to give delegates diplomatic entry, or even cars to their hotel.
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Two of the three pilgrims traveled thousands of kilometers by bicycle to perform what is considered the “fifth pillar” of Islam, while the third did not allow his advanced age – 92 years – from making the journey. “They must not let those rulers escape responsibility for the crimes they have caused throughout the world of Islam”.
