Iran official says Hajj stampede death toll close to 2,000, protests rage in Tehran

An official of Iran, which is involved in a proxy war with its fiercest regional rival Saudi Arabia, has claimed the death toll from stampede during Thursday’s Hajj rituals in Mina has risen to about 2,000.

Iran’s state-run PressTV said the head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organisation, Saeed Ohadi cited ‘Saudi sources’ to give the figure.

But Saudi officials have not updated that figure of 717 deaths and 863 injuries in the crush in Mina, a large valley on the outskirts of the holy city of Makkah.

“Based on the latest announcement by Saudi Arabia’s officials,” it quoted Ohadi as saying on Friday, “the number of those who were killed in the Mina incident is around 2,000.”

Hajj organisation’s Ohadi told Iran’s English-language news and TV network “imprudence, irresponsibility and mismanagement of Saudi authorities” are the main factors behind the tragedy in Mina.

Iran has expressed outrage at the deaths of 131 of its nationals, and politicians in Tehran suggested Saudi Arabia was incapable of managing the event, Reuters news agency reported.

Hundreds of people demonstrated in the Iranian capital, chanting "Death to the Saudi dynasty".

Its foreign ministry has reportedly summoned Riyadh's envoy to Tehran for the second time in two days to lodge their protests over alleged "Saudi mismanagement".

PressTV cited reports that the convoy of Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, the son of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, had arrived at the site, forcing the pilgrims to change their original directions.

According to Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organisation, 80 Iranian pilgrims have been confirmed injured in the catastrophe.

The news network quoted the head of Iran’s Hajj mission, Ali Ghazi Askar, as saying on Friday that 365 Iranian pilgrims were still missing after the tragedy.

Safety during the Hajj is highly sensitive for the ruling Al Saud dynasty, which presents itself internationally as the guardian of orthodox Islam and custodian of its holiest places in Makkah and Madina, according to Reuters.

The effort to uncover the facts and assign blame was likely to grow more acute and possibly more political.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are engaged in a strategic rivalry for power and influence in the Middle East.

"It is built mostly along sectarian and ideological lines - Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Sunni Muslim world, and Iran as the leader of the Shia Muslim world," Martin Reardon, a senior vice president with The Soufan Group, wrote on Aljazeera.com in March.