Saudi policemen watch monitor screens showing footage from cameras set up around the holy places, during a tour for journalists in Mina near the holy city of Makkah, in this October 5, 2014 file photo.

Iran has a history of using the Haj for political purposes, and is doing it again with the Mina stampede, according to a senior Shoura Council member.

Yahya bin Abdullah Al-Samaan, assistant speaker of the Shoura, said that Iran is attempting to divert attention away from its failures in Yemen and other countries in the region.

Al-Samaan made the comments at a meeting of the 133rd Assembly of the International Parliamentary Union currently being held in Geneva.

He said Iran’s attempts to politicize the tragedy showed no respect for the victims and the sanctity of the holy sites.

He said that Saudi Arabia would not allow anyone to interfere in its internal affairs because this was a violation of international law. The magnitude of the Kingdom’s responsibility was appreciated by Muslims across the world, he said.

Al-Samaan said Iran was the only country in the world that had committed crimes during Haj in the Kingdom. The world was well aware of what had transpired in the eighties, even though Iran was conveniently trying to forget these incidents, he said.

The Kingdom had then prevented Iran from causing chaos during Haj, and would do so again in the wake of the tragic events that occurred in Mina during Haj this year, he said.

Al-Samaan said that the Kingdom, which Allah Almighty has honored with the responsibility of serving the two holy mosques, knows that it has to take measures to protect pilgrims.

He said the events in Mina and Makkah were the first such tragedies recorded in the Kingdom for 10 years. However, there were no other major organizational concerns registered among the majority of the 2 million pilgrims who performed the Haj rituals this year, he said.

He sent the Kingdom’s condolences to the families of the dead pilgrims and said that a committee under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, deputy premier and interior minister, was currently investigating the reason behind the tragedy.

Related articles across the web

• 100 killed in Makkah stampede
• Keralite among those killed in Haj stampede
• Yemeni Pilgrims Reached Makkah to Extensive Efforts
• At least 150 pilgrims killed in stampede near Mecca as millions attend hajj pilgrimage
• 100,000 troops to secure this year's Haj
• Bodies piled four-deep as haj pilgrims struggled for breath
• 2015 Hajj: 3m Muslims gather at plain of Arafat
• Family of eight found dead in car in Saudi
• Haj stampede: 13 Indians among 310 killed, say unconfirmed reports
• 1 foreigner killed, 10 hurt by Yemen fire: Saudi Arabia