Iran almost doubles its Hajj disaster death toll to 464

Iran has almost doubled its death toll from the Hajj disaster, on Thursday saying that 464 of its nationals had been killed in the mass stampede last week.

"Seven days after this tragic accident... the status of all (pilgrims) injured has been completely cleared and reported," Iran's Hajj organisation said in a statement carried by state television. 

Iran confirmed on Thursday that among the dead was its former ambassador to Lebanon, senior diplomat Ghazanfar Roknabadi.

Roknabadi was confirmed missing on Wednesday, having not been heard from since the crush last Thursday.

According to Iranian news agency ISNA, Roknabadi was one of four Iranian diplomats to be killed in the disaster, although the Iranian government has yet to confirm the report.

On Wednesday, fresh death tolls put the number of Iranian casualties at 239, although Iran has said that 241 of its nationals had gone missing and were feared dead.

Saudi Arabia puts the death toll at 769, making the disaster the worst to strike the annual pilgrimage in a quarter-century. However, several other countries have disputed this saying that the death toll is higher.

Iran claims that 4,000 people have been killed, while Nigeria and India, whose nationals were among the dead, said earlier this week that they had received photographs showing 1,090 corpses. However, Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour al-Turki denied this telling the Associated Press that the photos include other people who died at the Hajj from natural causes, not just at the stampede.

The statement by Iran’s hajj organisation comes hours after Saudi state news announced that the two countries had reached a deal to repatriate the dead after Tehran threatened a "fierce" response over delays.

"The two parties have agreed on the repatriation of the bodies of identified dead Iranians as soon as possible," Saudi's SPA state news agency said.

But the high number of Iranian casualties, which include senior Iranian diplomat Roknabadi and possibly other senior officials, has helped fuel tensions between the two regional rivals.

On Wednesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Saudi Arabia must let in an Iranian investigative team probe the incident, saying that Riyadh had not fulfilled its duties toward Iranian pilgrims.

Saudi, however, contests this with some sources blaming Iranian pilgrims for the disaster. Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat quoted a Saudi official who liaised with the Iranian Hajj mission as saying that 300 Iranian pilgrims did not stop at their designated tents last Thursday morning and instead marched in the opposite direction from where the main body of pilgrims was walking, causing the crush.

This year, more than a million pilgrims from outside Saudi Arabia – including some 64,000 from Iran – travelled to Mecca and Medina to perform the pilgrimage. Several hundred thousand people from inside the kingdom also attended the five-day ritual.

In 2012, a record 3.2 million attended Hajj, but the figure dropped to just over two million last year, according to the Saudi Central Department of Statistics and Information.

More to follow…