The Iranian demonstrators also vowed harsh retaliation if Riyadh fails to reconsider its hostile regional policies and show further negligence towards the Mina disaster.
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“One such app can reportedly alert the user about congested areas in the Grand Mosque and its environs”.
If Saudi emergency vehicles had poured water on the thirsty pilgrims or opened the exit routes, the tragedy would not have occurred, Ousi noted.
As temperatures exceeded 40C, pilgrims crowded into Mecca’s sprawling, air-conditioned Grand Mosque complex to walk around the Kaaba-the holy site that Muslims across the globe face while they pray.
“Last year we had those verses in the Koran too”.
In April and May, 2016, Iran sent a delegation to KSA in an attempt to coordinate the measures that must be taken in Mecca in order to prevent the recurrence of catastrophes; however, the Saudi authorities rejected to guarantee the safety and security of the Iranian pilgrims. “It did conduct a suicide bombing just outside the Prophet’s Mosques at the end of Ramadan”. And despite the ideal of what the hajj is, because of what it provides to Saudi Arabia – and other Muslim nations – and its inherent politicization, Iran will always find a way to interject and critique.
Iran decided not to send its pilgrims this year because of “obstacles” created by Saudi Arabia and its failure to guarantee their safety.
Iran boycotted the hajj for three years between 1988 and 1990 after clashes between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi police in 1987 left around 400 people dead.
The Chinese pilgrim told the official Saudi Press Agency that he had cycled a total of 8,150 kilometers – and crossed several national borders – before reaching Mecca via the King Fahd Causeway, which links Saudi Arabia to Bahrain. And that gets to the heart of the legitimacy of the Saudi regime, Nasr says, because they present themselves as the custodians of two of Islam’s holy places. Saudi Arabia presents itself as the champion of Sunni Muslims, while Iran acts as the champion of Shiites.
“Costs have been cut through a revision of the flight plan, as they have used flights to third countries instead of direct flights”, he said.
Saudi Arabia is deeply engaged in comprehensive building and construction projects to expand the capacity of its holy sites to absorb this staggering rise in the number of pilgrims, but as last year’s crane disaster can attest, even this renovation can be risky.
But for all the criticism of Saudi authorities and their handling of the Mina crush, there are some who were present that day who believe officials did the best they could in trying circumstances. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. “I don’t hold my government in high esteem but they did prove quite able then”.
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Muslims from the Kingdom and from across the world have been performing Haj since the dawn of Islam. Pilgrims spent the night in Mina and will begin Hajj rituals from the morning.
