Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has blamed mismanagement by the Saudi monarchy for the hajj crush that killed more than 700 people in Mina as he declared three days of mourning for the 131 Iranian citizens believed to be among the dead.

Saudis quickly hit back on social media, attacking what they called an “Iranian conspiracy” to “light the fuse of sectarianism” and kill pilgrims. Iranians were accused of ignoring safety instructions and chanting Shia slogans.

Khamenei, who sees himself as the worldwide leader of Shia Muslims, is becoming increasingly critical of the Sunni Saudis as the rivalry between Tehran and Riyadh rivalry has worsened in recent years.

He issued a statement late on Thursday to criticise Saudi officials for the disaster. “Tens of families eagerly waiting to welcome pilgrims back from hajj are now mourning,” said Khamenei. “The Saudi government should accept its responsibility in this bitter incident. We should not overlook that mismanagement and inappropriate conducts caused this disaster.”

An Iranian official said Saudi authorities were blocking ways for Iran to send medical help.

The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, who has travelled to New York to speak at the UN general assembly next week, offered condolences to victims’ families on Twitter. “Landing in NY shortly to attend #UNGA. My heart goes out to #MinaStampede victims & families. Gov is ready to help,” the moderate cleric tweeted.



Iran’s position also drew criticism from other Arab states. In the UAE a cartoonist showed a Khamenei figure stabbing King Salman of Saudi Arabia in the back. Religious authorities in Turkey were reported to be demanding that the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) be given responsibility for running the Hajj.

On Thursday, Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the Saudi envoy to Tehran, as other officials echoed Khamenei in pointing the finger at the Saudi kingdom. Iran says its nationals are often mistreated by border guards or holy site officials and discriminated against during hajj because they are Shias.



Iranian news agencies have published the names of 118 pilgrims from Iran who were killed in the stampede. Most of them were men. According to Iran’s national hajj organisation the Iranian death toll stands at 131 while 60 were injured. Two Iranian journalists working for state television are still missing.

“It’s not the first time that the Saudi government has shown its incompetence during the hajj,” said Alaeddin Boroujerdi of Iran’s parliamentary committee on national security. “Two tragic incidents have taken place in a short time, the Saudi government is not capable of managing hajj pilgrimage.” He was referring also to the collapse of a large crane in Mecca last week that took many lives.

“This incident is unprecedented in the history of hajj,” said Seyed-Ali Ghaziaskar, Khamenei’s representative on hajj affairs. “Saudi officials do not let our medical team and doctors to reach the affected areas and hospitals to help.”

Thursday’s incident, which happened at the site of a vast tent city of pilgrims outside Mecca, coincided with Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice, one of the two most important religious holidays in the Muslim world’s calendar. The Eid is celebrated after the descent of pilgrims from Mount Arafat, a hill in eastern Mecca, as they approach the end of their religious ritual. Muslims see it as their religious obligation to perform hajj at least once in their lifetime should they be able to afford it.