The deaths exacerbated already tense relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had more pilgrims among the dead than any other country. The two powers follow different sects of Islam — Saudi Arabia is Sunni and Iran is Shiite — and are facing off in proxy struggles across the region.
In January, Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with Iran after protesters burned the Saudi Embassy in Tehran after the Saudi government’s execution of an outspoken Shiite cleric.