He said the ban was in line with a decision by Iran to bar its citizens from performing Hajj this year due to differences with Saudi Arabia.
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A former senior USA foreign policy official, John Hannah, last month cited Gulf sources in an article for Foreign Policy magazine, saying that “the Saudis did in fact go out of their way to make Iranian attendance hard”.
Saudi Arabia’s top cleric said Iranians are “not Muslims” in response to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s criticism of the Saudis’ handling of the hajj pilgrimage.
Iranian pilgrims are not taking part in this year’s hajj, a ritual required of all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their life.
Iran has urged the Muslim world to unite and punish Saudi Arabia as the bitter war of words between the two countries escalates ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Saudi officials defended their running of the pilgrimage, with Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Nayef on September 5 saying the kingdom had always provided Iranian pilgrims with access to all facilities.
During 2015 Greater Hajj, two deadly incidents killed thousands of people, among them hundreds of Iranians, and received the title of deadliest disaster in the history of hajj pilgrimage, once again indicating the Saudis’ inability to guarantee the safety of pilgrims.
“The Saudi crown prince who highlights the necessity of maintaining security during Hajj should remember his government’s inability to establish security in the last year’s Hajj and be liable to the bereaved nations of the painful Mina incident”, ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi stated.
In January, relations were severed again after Iranian demonstrators torched the Saudi embassy and a consulate following the kingdom’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. Iran’s culture minister announced the boycott over “obstacles created” by Saudi Arabia, the first time in about three decades that it won’t be sending believers. Both rounds of talks, however, ended up in failure due to impediments created by the Saudi side. They even refused to return bodies of many victims to their countries and many were buried without their relatives’ consent and even some without any identification.
On Monday, Ayatollah Khamenei questioned Saudi Arabia’s ability to manage and maintain the Holy Places of Islam.
Saudi Arabia is accused of blocking the path leading to Allah, and raising obstacles against Iranian pilgrims.
The annual Hajj pilgrimage to the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, a tradition for millions of Muslims across the globe, is slated to start Saturday, according to Al Jazeera.
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“Negligence in this regard will confront the Islamic Ummahwith more serious problems in the future”, Ayatollah Khamenei had emphasized.
