The top Iranian diplomat made the remark in response to a top Wahhabi cleric, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al ash-Sheikh, who said that Iranians were not Muslims.
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“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 said.
Riyadh severed diplomatic relations with Teheran in January after protesters attacked its embassy and a consulate in Iran after the execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric in Saudi Arabia.
Meeting with the families of victims of a deadly stampede during last year’s hajj pilgrimage, Khamenei said: “The Saudis’ failure and incompetence in this incident proves once again that this cursed, evil family does not deserve to be in charge and manage the holy sites”. Even before last year’s stampede, he writes, “Tehran has been involved in many incidents that led to the death of pilgrims”. After deploring that this year the Riad “blocked pilgrims from Iran and other nations to the Hajj”, the highest leader of the Persian country condemned the fact that those who do join the pilgrimage will undergo “unprecedented surveillance”. “This is something that we don’t accept and won’t allow to happen, and we stand firmly and strongly against those working to disrupt security at the hajj”.
“They [the universe of Islam] must not let those [Saudi] rulers escape responsibility for the offenses they’ve caused throughout the world of Islam”.
Sheikh Al Sheikh was dismissive when asked by the Mecca newspaper about Ayatollah Khamenei’s comments.
Prince Mohammed reiterated those concerns and charged Iran of trying to politicise Hajj and convert it into an occasion to violate the teachings of Islam – through shouting slogans and disturbing the security of pilgrims.
More than 460 Iranians were among the thousands of pilgrims who died on September 24, 2015, in a crush in Mina, near Mecca, during the Hajj pilgrimage.
Bin Nayef also accused Iran of endangering the safety of the Hajj pilgrims.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has criticized Saudi Arabia and called on the Muslim world to challenge the country’s control of Muslim pilgrimage sites.
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Further, Saudi foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir previously asserted that Iran asked for certain benefits that would enable its pilgrim to organise protests.
