In order to accommodate the growing number of people making the pilgrimage to Mecca, required at least once of all Muslims who can afford it, Saudi Arabia is in the midst of enormous expansion projects in the holy city.
On Sunday they’ll travel to Mount Arafat, several kilometres away, for what will be the main part of the pilgrimage.
Pilgrims described seeing increased security measures, including CCTV cameras and Global Positioning System bracelets, which help identify and guide them through the congested Hajj sites.
But thousands of Shia Iranians are absent because of long-running tensions with Sunni Saudi Arabia.
“If they are claiming that they are not guilty in the incident, they should let an Islamic global fact-finding delegation review and probe the case closely”, Khamenei said, adding that Saudi Arabia “should not shut people’s mouth with money”.
This year is the first time in almost three decades that Iran has not sent pilgrims to the six-day religious gathering, with the stampede legacy heightening tensions between the two countries.
He repeated his demands that Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family properly investigate the disaster or allow an global commission to do so, and that someone other than the Saudis be put in charge of administering the hajj. However, counts carried out by countries who repatriated bodies showed that more than 2,000 people may have died in the crush, according to news agencies.
The hajj draws rich and poor, whose common humanity is emphasised by the white garment that each man wears.
The row that has prevented Iranians taking part in this year’s hajj pilgrimage is diverting hundreds of thousands to the shrine of Imam Hussein, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam.
Space issues should improve after expansion in Mecca is completed, say Saudi authorities.
“The aim is to equip all pilgrims” from overseas, who are expected to number more than 1.4 million, he said.
Gen. Solaiman Al-Yahya, 1,245,203 pilgrims have arrived by air through King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and Prince Muhammad Bin Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah.
Iran has accused Riyadh of incompetence and of failing to investigate the 2015 disaster or take satisfactory precautions for this year’s pilgrimage.
Last year, Haj was marred by a deadly stampede that took over 700 lives.
Whereas in previous years, up to three million people have flocked to the holy city for haj, this year authorities were anticipating no more than two million haj pilgrims.
On Monday, the Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei raised the stakes in the dispute by saying Saudi officials had “murdered” hajj pilgrims who were injured in the stampede.
“Everything is well organized”, said Nasser Benfitah, 54, from Morocco.