Saudi king rejects mixing hajj with politics

Saudi King Salman said Tuesday (September 13th) the kingdom rejected any attempt to play politics with the hajj, AFP reported.

For the first time in nearly three decades, Iran's 64,000 pilgrims are not attending the hajj in Saudi Arabia after the two countries failed to agree on security and logistics.

Among its concerns, Riyadh said Tehran had demanded the right to organise demonstrations.

"The kingdom categorically rejects that the hajj serves any political purpose," Salman said in a brief address to international VIPs attending the pilgrimage.

Just days before this year's hajj, which began Saturday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed Saudi authorities had "murdered" the stampede victims of the 2015 hajj.

The six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council accused Iran of "a desperate attempt to politicise" the hajj and said Khamenei's remarks were offensive.

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