Indeed; no resemblance between Islam of Iranians & most Muslims & bigoted extremism that Wahhabi top cleric & Saudi terror masters preach.
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“The world of Islam, including Muslim governments and peoples, must familiarise themselves with the Saudi rulers and correctly understand their blasphemous, faithless and materialistic nature”, Iran’s Khamenei hit back in a statement published on his website on Tuesday.
He added that “regional countries and the Islamic world should take coordinated measures to punish the government of Saudi Arabia in order to have a real hajj”.
His eminence added that the Saudi government was acting with U.S. support to “shed blood in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Bahrain”.
Ayatollah Khamenei accused the Saudi royal family of “murdering” the almost 2,300 pilgrims killed in last year’s deadly stampede at the religious event – 400 of them were Iranian.
The 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.
Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have had an unusually harsh exchange in the lead up to the annual haj pilgrimage in Mecca.
After two failed attempts to resolve the safety issue, Iran banned its pilgrims from attending this year’s hajj for the first time in nearly 30 years.
Earlier this week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused Riyadh of “murdering” Iranian pilgrims during last year’s Hajj stampede, during which hundreds of pilgrims were killed.
Iran is opposed to the Saudi monarchy’s closeness with the United States and Israel.
Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion predating Christianity and Islam and was the dominant religion in Persia before the Arab conquest. 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.
“If we do not say Mina stampede was premeditated, this incompetency and lack of prudence is a crime”, the official website of the leader quoted him as saying at a gathering of the relatives of Iranian victims of Mina stampede that took place previous year near the holy city of Mecca.
Lower-ranking Iranian officials have questioned Saudi Arabia’s stewardship of the holy sites before.
The Saudi cleric was himself responding to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s criticism of the Sunni-ruled kingdom’s management of the Islamic holy sites of Mecca and Medina.
The president further said the Hajj period should be regarded as a chance to restore unity among Muslim countries, whereas it is used to hurt the dignity of Muslims.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef on Monday defended his country’s preparedness for the hajj.
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In January, Saudi-Iran relations were severed after Iranian demonstrators torched the Saudi embassy and a consulate, following the kingdom’s execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric.
