TEHRAN – More than one year after the deadly hajj crush in Mina and loss of 464 Iranians, Iran’s hajj organization has announced it will use the county’s parliamentary capacity to ratchet up pressures on Riyadh. 

“During a meeting with members of the Legal and Judicial Committee (of the parliament), we agreed to use the expert capacity of the commission to follow up on martyrs of the disaster,” said Saeed Owhadi, head of Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, Tasnim reported on Friday. 

Saudi Arabia’s cavalier attitude to the issue has incensed Tehran, and rounds of negotiation have also failed to bear fruit. 

Hopes to find a way out of the gridlock have been dented months after Riyadh severed off all political relations with Iran in January after its diplomatic posts were stormed during public mobs in Tehran and Mashhad, itself a result of Saudi Arabia’s execution of the pro-democracy Shiite cleric Nimr Baqir al-Nimr. 

On how this may impact Tehran’s attempts to act more responsibly by paying compensations to families of Iranian victims, the hajj official said, “Because we have not political relations with Saudi Arabia, attempts may face some hurdles, but this should not prevent us from following up on the issue.” 

Also, the row over hajj has been indirectly affected by differences between Iran and Saudi Arabia over other issues, most notably the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

While Saudi Arabia and certain Arab states have launched attacks on Yemen and been backing the militant groups in Syria to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad, Iran has strongly criticized the Saudi-led attack on Yemen and been supporting the Syrian government nonstop.

AK/PA