Iran shouldn't play politics with tragedy, says Saudi

Makkah - Haj ends as pilgrims flood Mina area to stone the Satan on third day

Saudi Arabia deployed large numbers of security reinforcements on Saturday as pilgrims performed the final rituals of Haj, where double tragedy took place, with the death toll from a stampede rising to 769.
The kingdom's leaders have ordered an inquiry into the disaster - the deadliest to strike the annual pilgrimage in a quarter-century - and a "revision" of its organisation.
Dozens of emergency workers were seen on one level of Jamarat Bridge, a five-storey structure in Mina where pilgrims ritually stone the devil, and on which hundreds of thousands were converging when Thursday's stampede occurred nearby.
Many more patrolled the network of roads leading to the structure, which resembles a parking garage.
The interior ministry has said it assigned 100,000 police to secure the Haj and manage crowds.
But pilgrims blamed the stampede on police road closures and poor management of the throng, during searing temperatures.
In all, 769 people were killed and 934 others were wounded, according to Health Minister Khaled Al Falih.
Criticism has been particularly strident from Iran, 144 of whose nationals were among the dead.
Saudi Arabia firmly rejected Iran's criticism on Saturday, saying the Islamic republic "shouldn't play politics with a tragedy".
"I would hope Iranian leaders would be more sensible and more thoughtful with regards to those who perished in this tragedy, and wait until we see the results of the investigation," said Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir.
The disaster was the second deadly accident. A massive construction crane collapsed on the Grand Mosque in the nearby holy city of Makkah days beforehand, killing 109 people, many of them pilgrims. Undeterred on Saturday, pilgrims in Mina still flooded the area to perform the ritual stoning for a third time, on the last day of the Haj which this year drew about two million people.
They also stood in prayer.
Most began leaving on Saturday, returning to Makkah where many performed the tawaf - where they circumambulate the holy Kaaba in the middle of the sacred site at the Grand Mosque - watched on by heavy security.
Abdullah Al Sheikh, chairman of the Shura Council, which advises the government, stressed that pilgrims must stick to "the rules and regulations taken by the security personnel".
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Muslim countries should demand Saudi Arabia be held to account for the deaths. "Instead of blaming this and that, the Saudis should accept the responsibility," Khamenei was quoted as saying on his own website.
Authorities have yet to provide a breakdown of the nationalities of pilgrims killed in the stampede, as the difficult process of identification continues.

• Saudi Arabia