Top Iran leader warns of 'harsh' measures over hajj disaster

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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's top leader on Wednesday warned Saudi Arabia that his country will take "harsh" measures if the kingdom fails to promptly repatriate bodies of the Iranian pilgrims killed in the disaster at the hajj pilgrimage last week.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's warning came as the Shiite powerhouse summoned Riyadh's envoy to Tehran for the fourth time since last Thursday's deadly crush to protest what it called the kingdom's "mishandling" of the incident.

The developments reflect Iran's intentions to keep up pressure on Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the stampede. Iran has led a chorus of nations that have criticized Saudi Arabia's alleged slow response to the incident, including belated diplomatic access to the dead and injured, days after the disaster.

Iranian hard-liners have staged daily protests near the Saudi Embassy in Tehran while President Hassan Rouhani devoted a significant part of his speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Monday to demand Saudi Arabia "carry out its legal and international obligations toward foreign citizens and pilgrims" and have the incident "fully investigated."

http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Iran-summons-Saudi-envoy-for-4th-time-over-hajj-6539455.php

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1. After billions spent on haj safety, Saudis lost control of deadly crowd

Pilgrims reported feeling the hands of their relatives slip away into the crowd on Thursday morning when a crush at the Mina camp in Mecca killed at least 769 in the deadliest haj disaster in a generation.

Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars on making the world's biggest gathering of people safe. For nine years, there had been no major disasters at the haj, a much lauded success after a period from 1990-2006 when crowd crushes and fires that killed hundreds of people took place every 2-3 years.

But Thursday morning's crush - as millions of people tried to reach three walls to pelt them with stones in a ritual intended to drive out Satan - proved that those preparations were inadequate for the world's greatest crowd control challenge.

"There was no way out. You saw parents leaving their children and the elderly to survive," said a Nigerian survivor, Dahiru Shittu Ibrahim, 37.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/30/us-saudi-haj-disaster-idUSKCN0RU18R20150930

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2. UPDATE 1-Weapons bound for Yemen seized on Iran boat -coalition

(Reuters) - Arab coalition forces waging a military campaign against Houthi fighters in Yemen seized an Iranian boat loaded with weapons in the Arabian Sea on its way to deliver supplies to the group, the Saudi-led alliance said on Wednesday.

The announcement was made a day after tribal fighters backed by the coalition won control of a strategic dam in central Yemen from Houthi forces following weeks of fighting in the area east of the capital Sanaa.

The coalition, which also includes Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, has been battling the Iranian-backed Houthis for more than six months, trying to shore up President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government and contain what the Gulf Arab states see growing Tehran's influence in their backyard.

As part of the campaign, Saudi-led naval forces have imposed a near-blockade to prevent weapons supplies from reaching the Houthis, resulting in long delays and mandatory searches for shippers in the region.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/30/yemen-security-idUSL5N1201HJ20150930