TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday shrugged off recent allegations made by the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC), saying such futile tactics could not help Saudi Arabia shirk its responsibility for the deaths of thousands of pilgrims in last year’s Hajj.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi slammed an anti-Iran statement issued by the PGCC foreign ministers after their recent meeting in New York as recurring and baseless.

The PGCC foreign ministers, in their Sunday session held at Saudi Arabia’s permanent mission to the United Nations, criticized what they called Iran’s “interference in the internal affairs” of other countries.

In response, Qassemi said such allegations are part of attempts by one of the PGCC members to pin the blame on others after the international community rose against the connection between Wahhabism and their supporters and the acts of terrorism over the past two decades.

Attempts by a “pretentious” PGCC member to impose its “biased and one-sided views” on limited and small-scale diplomatic meetings are a “failed and invalid tactic,” Qassemi said, referring to the Saudi regime.

Such provocative moves will not help Saudi Arabia to shirk responsibility for the deaths of thousands of Hajj pilgrims in a crush of people in Mina in September 2015, the spokesman added.

During last year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia, over 7,000 people were killed, 477 of whom were Iranians. 12 Iranians were killed in a crane collapse in Mecca, while 465 others lost their lives in Mina crush, known as the worst ever tragedy during Hajj.

So far, Al Saud has not only refused to give an explanation for the incident, make an apology or pay any compensation, but also has accused Iran of trying to politicize Hajj.

By Tasnim News Agency