“Certain countries are waging a proxy war against the Islamic republic via social media and the internet,’’ Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said.

He said that the U.S, Britain and Saudi Arabia are behind the recent riots in Iran, adding that the hash tags and social media campaigns in Iran are all being guided by these countries.

“Based on our analyses, around 27 per cent of the new hash tags against Iran are generated by the Saudi government,” the Iranian official said.

Shamkhani also said this foreign-backed intervention is aimed at hampering Iran’s progress in different spheres.

“What is happening in Iran will be over in a few days, and there is no reason to worry at all,’’ he noted.

No fewer than eight people, seven civilians and one security policeman were killed as protests against the government’s economic policies, including looming price hikes, continued in major cities in Iran over the past days.

According to Iran’s security officials, scores of protesters had been arrested.

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Iran’s Supreme National Security Council accused the Saudis of “incompetence” and urged them to “take responsibility” for the deaths.

Nigeria has dismissed remarks by the Saudi health minister blaming pilgrims for “not following instructions”.

The crush occurred at 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT) on Thursday as two million pilgrims were taking part in the Hajj’s last major rite.

The pilgrims throw seven stones at pillars called Jamarat, which stand at the place where Satan is believed to have tempted the Prophet Abraham.

With temperatures around 46C, two massive lines of pilgrims converged on each other at right angles at an intersection close to the five-storey Jamarat Bridge in Mina, a large valley about 5km (3 miles) from Mecca.

This is the deadliest incident to occur during the pilgrimage in 25 years.

It is also the second disaster to strike in two weeks, after a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing 109 people.

Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, has reported the greatest number of deaths among foreign nationals – 131 – and has reacted with the greatest anger.

On Friday, the spokesman for its Supreme National Security Council, Keyvan Khosravi, told the Isna news agency: “The unavoidable fact is that the Saudi government has been incompetent in this regard and with regard to the management of the Hajj pilgrimage, and Riyadh must accept responsibility for this.”

He was echoing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said on Thursday that Saudi “mismanagement and improper actions have caused this catastrophe”.

Iran has declared three days of national mourning. Protesters marched in Tehran shouting slogans against Saudi Arabia’s ruling al-Saud family.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of an Iranian parliamentary committee for national security, called on other Islamic countries to lodge protests with the Saudis.

The incident may worsen relations between the two countries, already strained by opposing stances on the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

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