Muslim Pilgrims chant “Death to America-Death to Israel” inside Mecca

The pilgrims will later move under the night sky to Muzdalifa to collect pebbles to stone a set of walls symbolising the devil.

Despite a ban on political activities at haj, a senior Iranian cleric gave a speech at Arafat to a group of pilgrims, who chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”, Iran’s state television showed.

Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri, head of Iran’s haj mission, told the pilgrims some Muslims had despaired “in the face of Western civilization’s onslaught” but that today there was a “resurgence of Islam”.