Both countries’ ministers exchange condolences, agree to repatriate dead pilgrims
Iran and Saudi Arabia sought to tone down a war of words over last week’s Haj disaster, with Riyadh offering condolences to its regional rival over what Tehran said on Thursday were 464 Iranians killed in the crush near Makkah.
Saudi and Iranian media said the message of sympathy was delivered on Wednesday at a meeting between the two countries’ health ministers in Jeddah.
“The meeting was positive and the Saudi Minister announced the King’s condolences to the Supreme Leader, and the government and people of Iran,” Iranian Health Minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
The ministers agreed to repatriate Iranian pilgrims killed in last week’s stampede, Saudi state media said, after Tehran threatened Riyadh over delays.
The announcement came as Iran announced that its death toll from the disaster had doubled to 464.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the rise in Iran’s death toll, announced on the website of Iranian state television, would affect the overall toll from the September 24 disaster near Makkah.
Saudi Arabia’s Healthy Ministry reported Saturday that the crush and stampede killed at least 769 pilgrims and injured 934, but Pakistan, India, Indonesia and Iran all have suggested the true casualty figures may be higher.
Saudi state media and officials had no immediate comment on the Iranian announcement, though they say they are investigating what caused the crush and stampede in Mina.
Tehran has accused Saudi of hindering its efforts to bring home the bodies of those who died in the tragedy.
“The two parties have agreed on the repatriation of the bodies of identified dead Iranians as soon as possible,” Saudi’s SPA state news agency reported early Thursday following talks between the rivals in Jeddah.
The two sides will also “maintain contacts to identify the rest and look after the wounded,” SPA added under the agreement struck between Saudi health minister Khalid Al Falih and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Hashemi.
It said the Saudi minister “stressed the kingdom’s government’s wish to cooperate with the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
Tehran claimed last week that Saudi authorities have failed to issue visas for Iranian officials who sought to travel to the kingdom to facilitate the repatriation of the dead and the injured.
The two regional rivals were already at odds over Iran’s support for Al Houthi militants in Yemen, which lies on Saudi Arabia’s southern flank. That prompted Riyadh to form a coalition of Arab nations to combat Al Houthis.
