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The number of the Iranian pilgrims killed at the recent crush in Saudi Arabia’s Mina has reached 131, an Iranian official says.

Saeed Ohadi, the head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, made the announcement on Thursday night, adding that the number of the fatalities could rise.

He also said that the transfer to Tehran of the bodies as well as those who had sustained injury during the incident will start next week.

The incident occurred in Mina, near Mecca, at 9 am local time (0600 GMT) on Thursday after two large masses of pilgrims fused together.

Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization says the tragic incident claimed the lives of more than 1,300 people, including 131 Iranians. Saudi officials, however, put the death toll at 717.

Saudi Arabia has come under mounting criticism following the catastrophe.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has declared three days of national mourning following the disaster. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has also asked Riyadh to take responsibility for the disaster and fulfill its legal and Islamic obligations in this regard.

Arabic-language daily al-Diyar has said the presence of the convoy of Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, the son of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in the middle of the population prompted a change in the direction of the movement of the pilgrims and the subsequent crush. It said Salman had sought to attend the huge gathering of pilgrims in Mina.

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Upon landing in New York, President Rouhani issued a statement on the tragic death of pilgrims near Mecca.

President Rouhani issued a condoling statement upon landing in New York late on Thursday.

‘The passing away of our beloved Hajj pilgrims beside the Muslim Ummah and injury of many others in Mecca is the source of regret,’ the Iranian president said in his message.

Rouhani meanwhile called the Saudi government responsible for the death of thousands of Hajj pilgrims in Mina near Mecca.

President also tasked his First Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri with forming a sepecial committee to follow-up the causes of the tragedy and plan immediate assistance as soon as popssible. He asserted that dispatching relief and rescue teams and in case of need sending airplanes to Saudi Arabia, dealing with the affairs of the Hajj pilgrims, injured of the incident, and dispatch of the deceased pilgrims to the country tops agenda of following up the Mina incident.

Jahangiri is also asked to inform the Iranian nation especially those who have lost dear ones in the incident on the findings of the committee.

Rouhani has also tasked provincial governers to meet with families of the deceaced pilgrims to offer Presidential condolences.

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“Saudi Arabia should be answerable to the Islamic Republic [of Iran] and other countries that could not perform a calm Hajj [ritual],” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Thursday.

According to Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization more than 1,300 people, including 125 Iranians, were killed in a crush during Hajj pilgrimage rituals outside Mecca earlier in the day. This as Saudi officials put the death toll at 717 and the number of injured at 863.

He also said that the fatal crush started after Saudi security forces blocked two streets while the pilgrims were walking towards the final ritual of the Hajj. 

“We can by no means remain indifferent towards Saudi Arabia’s irresponsible behavior,” said Amir-Abdollahian, adding, “The tactlessness on the part of relevant Saudi authorities to provide security for the pilgrims cannot be overlooked.”

Earlier in the day, Saudi Arabia’s charge d’affaires to Tehran was summoned to Iran’s Foreign Ministry to hear the Islamic Republic’s protest over the mishandling of the deadly incident by Saudi authorities. 

For his part, the Saudi diplomat expressed regret over the fatal incident and offered condolences to the Iranian government and the families of the killed pilgrims.  

Earlier on Thursday, Amir-A

bdollahian held the Saudi authorities responsible for Thursday’s tragedy, and said they should promptly act to manage the crisis.

Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri laid the blame on the Saudi government for the tragic incident, saying “the consequences of any negligence” falls upon the Saudi government.

According to Saudi disaster officials, the incident occurred in Mina, near Mecca, on Thursday after two large masses of pilgrims coming down streets 204 and 223 fused together.

The tragedy came days after a massive construction crane collapsed into Mecca’s Grand Mosque, killing more than 100 people and leaving over 200 others injured.

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Commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmaeili highlighted the country’s military might, saying that the armed forces are able to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group before they can even cross the borders into Iran.

“Rest assured that the peace-loving people of Iran and the world do not value ISIL or any other (terrorist) group as much as a termite,” Brigadier General Esmaeili told reporters on Tuesday on the sidelines of military parades in Tehran, held to commemorate the start of the Sacred Defense Week.

In case of any wrong move by the terrorist group, they will be “turned into ashes” before reaching the Iranian borders, he said, adding, “We will bring them hell.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the commander hailed the Iranian airspace as the most secure in the Middle East region, saying that the Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base has managed to realize the safest airspace of the region, which is unprecedented in the last 70 years.

Different units representing the Army, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the Law Enforcement (police), and the Defense Ministry took part in the military parades at the mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, south of Tehran on Tuesday.

In Iran, the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war is known as the Sacred Defense, and the Sacred Defense Week is held on the anniversary of the beginning of the war.

Every year, the Sacred Defense Week begins on Shahrivar 31 in the Iranian calendar (September 22 this year), which is the day Iraq invaded Iran and began the imposed war on the country in 1980.

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