by Our Foreign Desk

IRAN summoned the Saudi envoy yesterday for a fourth time over the country’s “mishandling” of last week’s hajj trajedy.

Of the at least 769 pilgrims killed in the panic and crush in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, 239 were Iranian.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the kingdom yesterday of “harsh” measures if it failed to repatriate their bodies promptly.

Iran’s English language Press TV quoted Foreign Ministry official Ali Chegini as warning against any delays in the identification of missing Iranians.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told Iran’s official IRNA news agency that the families of the killed Iranian pilgrims did not agree to their kin being buried on Saudi soil.

There have been daily protests near the Saudi Embassy in Tehran since the tragedy.

President Hassan Rouhani devoted a significant part of his speech at the UN general assembly on Monday to demand that Saudi Arabia “carry out its legal and international obligations toward foreign citizens and pilgrims” and have the incident “fully investigated.”

Other nations, including Indonesia, have also criticised Saudi Arabia’s slow response to the incident.

• The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen claimed yesterday that it had foiled an attempt by Iran to smuggle arms to the Houthi rebels after seizing a fishing boat. The boat was stopped some 150 miles south-east of Oman and was allegedly carrying 18 pieces of one type of anti-tank missile and 54 of another, along with launchers and other equipment.