For the Grand Mufti, an influential scholar respected across the globe, to say that “they (Iranians) are children of Magi and their hostility towards Muslims is an old one”, is truly shocking and will haunt Shia communities living across the region for years to come.
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In Saudi Arabia, hundreds of thousands of worshippers have started arriving in Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam. “This is because all Muslims trust what the government of this country is doing to serve the two Holy Mosques in building and expansion”. Al Arabiya’s Turki Aldakhil cites a report in Saudi media stating a year ago that “the stampede that killed hundreds was caused by a group of around 300 Iranian pilgrims who did not follow instructions from hajj authorities”.
The spokesman also reminded bin Nayef -Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, first deputy prime minister and the minister of interior at the same time- to recall his government’s failure to protect the security of Hajj pilgrims and provide an explanation for the tragic incident.
Mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia and majority Shiite Iran back opposite sides of the wars in Syria and Yemen, and support opposing political groups in Iraq, Bahrain and Lebanon.
“The world of Islam, including Muslim governments and peoples, must familiarize themselves with the Saudi rulers and correctly understand their blasphemous, faithless, dependent and materialistic nature”, Khamenei writes, adding that the Saudis are “themselves small and puny satans who tremble for fear of jeopardizing the interests of the Great Satan, the U.S”.
The two countries severed diplomatic relations in January after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric and angry Iranian crowds overran Saudi diplomatic missions. Saudi security officials stressed at the event that they were well prepared to safeguard the security of pilgrims.
Saudi authorities have published few details of the official investigation into the incident.
Saudi Arabia claims almost 770 people were killed in the incident, but Iranian officials say about 4,700 people, including more than 460 Iranians, lost their lives in the tragedy.
Translation: #Our_soldiers_serve_the_Hajj, #Military_Parade_By_Hajj_Security_Forces_1437 It is something every Saudi, Arab, and Muslim can be proud of to be honest.
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Saudi social media was soon set ablaze by the hashtag #Military_Parade_By_Hajj_Security_Forces_1437, using the Islamic calendar’s equivalent of the year 2016.
