Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday accused Saudi Arabia of “murder” over the deaths of almost 2,300 pilgrims, including hundreds of Iranians, in a stampede during last year’s pilgrimage.
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Abdullatif al-Zayani said the comments were “a clear incitement and a desperate attempt to politicize” the hajj.
A bitter war of words between Iran and Saudi Arabia intensified Wednesday ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage from which Iranians have been excluded for the first time in decades.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, meanwhile met with families of victims and survivors of the Mina stampede and reiterated his demand that Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family properly investigate the disaster, IRNA reported. It is one of several safety measures authorities say they have implemented after, according to data from foreign officials, close to 2,300 pilgrims died during the hajj stoning ritual past year. The Hajj officials begins September 11, and so far over a million Muslims have gathered in Mecca, readying for the event. Counts of fatalities by countries that repatriated bodies showed that over 2,000 people may have died in the crush, more than 400 of them Iranians.
But Saudi Arabia is anxious that Iranian pilgrims coming from overseas or pro-Iranian pilgrims from other countries could still exploit the gathering to spread anti-Saudi messages.
Tensions between them have been rising since Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in January following the storming of its embassy in Tehran, itself a response to the Saudi execution of a dissident Shi’ite cleric.
“Because of Saudi rulers’ oppressive behaviour towards God’s guests, the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider the management of the two holy places and the issue of Hajj“, Khamenei wrote on his website.
Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia hit a new low after the two countries failed to reach a deal on arrangements for Iranian citizens to attend this year’s pilgrimage.
And he accused Iran of endangering the security of all Hajj pilgrims.
“The Muslim world is well aware of the tremendous efforts exerted by Saudi Arabia to organise and facilitate the pilgrimage and host the pilgrims and ensure their safety”, Al-Zayani said in praise of the Saudi authorities.
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“They are the sons of the Magi”, he said, referring to Zoroastrianism, a religion that once dominated Iran. The two countries also support opposing sides in the civil wars in Syria and Yemen. Saudi’s grand mufti countered the next day by asserting that Iranians are “not Muslims”. He has also repeated demand of Tehran for joint management of Hajj on the plea that Saudis were not capable of managing affairs leading to tragedies as we witnessed previous year.
