Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched renewed criticism of Saudi Arabia over how it organises the Hajj after a crush a year ago killed hundreds of pilgrims, many of whom were Iranians.
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Responding to a question by Saudi newspaper Makkah, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh said he was not surprised at Khamenei’s comments.
“We must understand they are not Muslims, for they are the descendants of Majuws, and their enmity towards Muslims, especially the Sunnis, is very old”, Saudi’s grand mufti said, according to the AP news agency.
“Indeed, no resemblance between Islam of Iranians and most Muslims, and bigoted extremism that Wahhabi top cleric and Saudi terror masters preach”, Zarif tweeted late on September 6.
Its prestige was damaged by the 2015 disaster, in which Riyadh said 769 pilgrims were killed, the highest hajj death toll since a crush in 1990.
The Iranian President went on to add that “despite the awful incident in Mina last year, Saudi Arabia has refused to apologize, compensate for the losses or at least to give promise of improved conditions in coming years”.
The verbal sparring, ahead of the Hajj which this year starts on Saturday, follows months of tension between Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and its Shia regional rival Iran.
It is noteworthy that, recently, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issues a message on the occasion of the major Muslim pilgrimage season demanding Muslims to reconsider management of Hajj.
Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of preventing Iranian pilgrims from performing the annual Hajj pilgrimage and “politicizing” the ritual. Saudi Arabia has been the custodian of Islam’s most revered places in Mecca and Medina, and it takes this responsibility rather seriously and stakes its reputation on organising haj.
Riyadh and Teheran are at odds over a raft of regional issues, notably the conflicts in Syria and Yemen in which they support opposing sides.
In his comments Monday, Mr. Khamenei said Saudi authorities behaved with deliberate cruelty in the disaster, in which 461 Iranians were killed, Iranian officials say.
In January, relations were severed after Iranian demonstrators torched Saudi Arabia’s embassy and a consulate following the kingdom’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.
The dispute escalated after Tehran demanded that Iranian pilgrims be allowed to perform certain practices – forbidden by the Saudi authorities – during the Hajj.
Further, Saudi foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir previously asserted that Iran asked for certain benefits that would enable its pilgrim to organise protests.
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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said the ministry has formed a committee to investigate the issue and pursue it in worldwide forums, without elaborating.
