During the 2015 hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, more than 2,000 Muslims lost their lives in a stampede in the city of Mina. Nearly 500 of the victims were Iranian pilgrims. One year later, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with the families of those who lost their lives and called for an international investigation into the stampede.

“The events of Mina and the loss of life of Iranian pilgrims with parched lips under the scorching sun is a deeply sorrowful and unforgettable event,” Khamenei said Sept. 7, calling the Iranians who lost their lives “martyrs.”

Reiterating figures presented by Iran, Khamenei asked why other governments have not raised issues with what happened in Mina. Saudi officials put the death toll in the 700s. The Pakistani government, a recipient of Saudi aid, ordered the Pakistani media not to criticize the Saudis' handling of the Mina stampede, which killed 83 Pakistanis. Mali, Nigeria, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Egypt all lost hundreds of citizens as well. Iran's death toll, the highest of any country, inflamed tensions between the two regional rivals.

Hammering on Iran’s demands for new management of the hajj, Khamenei said, “If it was not intentional, this level of mismanagement and incompetence … is a crime.” He added that there was no guarantee that such an incident would not happen again.