Qom, May22, IRNA – The Iranian people are not willing to perform Hajj pilgrimage under humiliation, says senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi.

'The Saudi behavior is evidently insulting,' Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi said on Thursday in a meeting with Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati.

The senior cleric also said that it is out of question to think that the Saudis are going to come up with a new proposal for this year's Hajj ritual.

We want a Hajj pilgrimage performed with dignity and respect, he said.

Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi described the Saudi conduct as revengeful.

'Regarding what they say, it is felt that they want to use the Hajj issue as a tool to take revenge for their losses in Yemen, Syria and Iraq,' he said, 'their approach is politically-motivated and revengeful.'

'Neither God nor the pilgrims will accept this,' he said.

Iran insists that the safety of its pilgrims should be ensured, given the disaster in Mina that killed many Iranian pilgrims in Last year’s Hajj ceremony.

More than 460 Iranians were among thousands of pilgrims who died on September 24, 2015, in a stampede in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca.

The incident marked the worst ever tragedy during Hajj.

By IRNA