Rouhani blames Saudi "inefficiency" for Hajj stampede

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday lashed out at Saudi Arabia's "inefficiency" as the cause of the latest Hajj stampede, official IRNA news agency reported.

"Imprudence," "inefficiency" and "tactlessness" of the Saudi Arabian government led to the death of the Muslim pilgrims, including the Iranians, Rouhani said after he returned to Tehran from New York on Tuesday to commemorate Iranian pilgrims killed in Hajj stampede.

"In our eyes, this incident is not something normal and it is far more important to be simply compensated financially," Rouhani was quoted as saying by IRNA.

Iran expects the Saudi authorities to observe their legal obligations and clarify the cause of the incident, he said.

After delivering a speech at the UN General Assembly on Monday, Rouhani cancelled some of his meetings with officials of other countries and returned home.

Upon his arrival at Tehran's international Mehrabad airport, Rouhani issued a decree whereby the Vice President Es'hag Jahangiri was tasked to establish a committee to study the disaster in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which claimed the lives of at least 228 Iranian pilgrims.

Also in the incident, 28 Iranian pilgrims were injured and 248 others missing, according to IRNA.

On Tuesday, local Tasnim news agency quoted Tehran Governor General Seyed Hossein Hashemi as saying that the dead bodies of 130 Iranian pilgrims are due to be transferred to Tehran on Tuesday and a commemoration ceremony will be followed.

According to Saudi officials, over 760 Muslim pilgrims have died during the stampede at the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina near Mecca on Thursday.

The Saudi interior ministry said the crush appears to have been caused by two waves of pilgrims meeting at an intersection. Endit