The Iranian Foreign Ministry said earlier this year it remains “very concerned” for the safety of its nationals and will not be sending any pilgrims to Mecca or Medina this year. Their historic rivalry, which extends from global oil markets to the interpretation of Islam, has flared again.
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On Monday, Khamenei raised the stakes in the dispute over hajj by saying Saudi officials had “murdered” hajj pilgrims who were injured in the stampede.
Top Iranian cleric Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi on Wednesday said Saudi Arabia’s rejection of Iranian pilgrims this year is “politically motivated”. Khamenei added that Muslims should reconsider Saudi control of the religion’s key holy sites.
An image from Mina following the stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in September 2015.
Iran has said Saudi Arabia can not be trusted with custodianship of the Holy Places of Islam.
He said countries should “punish the government of Saudi Arabia in order to have a real hajj“. The Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council issued a statement saying that Khamenei’s remarks and any such “false and outrageous accusations.should not be issued from the heart or the tongue of any Muslim”.
Here is a selection of images by Associated Press photographer Nariman El-Mofty showing the faithful in Mecca ahead of the formal start of the hajj.
On September 24, 2015, a deadly crush occurred after two large masses of pilgrims converged at a crossroads in Mina during the symbolic ceremony of the stoning of Satan in Jamarat.
“The government of Saudi Arabia must be held accountable for this incident”, Rouhani told a weekly Cabinet meeting.
Ayat. Khamenei stressed that another horrific aspect of the Mina stampede was the “deadly silence of the so-called human rights entities”; “Those who have put their faith and hopes into global communities and organizations should learn a lesson from this bitter truth”, he said.
Despite weeks of talks on planning for this year’s event, Iranian and Saudi officials failed to find agreement.
As the two leading powers in the region, Iran and Saudi Arabia are at odds over a raft of regional issues.
In a move to shrug off their responsibility for the tragic incident, the Saudi rulers claimed that it was the “destiny” in which no one should interfere.
And he accused Iran of endangering the security of all Hajj pilgrims.
Diplomatic ties were restored in 1991, but relations have deteriorated in recent years, particularly over the countries’ support for opposing sides in the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars. The riot was prompted by the Saudi execution of a cleric from the kingdom’s Shiite minority.
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Instead of answering calls from Tehran to provide technical explanations about the tragedy and redeem the bloods of the victims, the Saudi cleric said Iranians are descendants of “Majuws”- a term that refers to Zoroastrians and those who worship fire.
