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Iran’s Supreme Leader Questions Saudis’ Fitness to Oversee Islam’s Holy Sites, Pilgrimage

But the fact remains that for the first time in 25 years, Iranians will not be able to participate in the Hajj and the Grand Mufti has also offended many Muslims across the world by saying that Iranians are not Muslims.

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Negotiations between the two countries over hajj security measures also collapsed earlier this year, prompting Iran to declare it would not be sending any of its citizens to this year’s pilgrimage, which begins this weekend.

The president said his administration will pursue the country’s rights regarding the fatal crush of Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia through legal and political channels. As for management of the holy sites is concerned, Saudis have so far been handling them superbly and created enormous infrastructure and facilities for the benefit of the pilgrims.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasted the “incompetence” of the Saudi royal family as he met with the families of victims of a deadly stampede during last year’s hajj.

During the tragic incident, over 7,000 pilgrims, including 465 Iranians, were killed.

For the first time in nearly three decades, Iranians have been blocked from the annual pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest places in Saudi Arabia after the regional rivals failed to agree on safety and logistical issues.

The annual Hajj pilgrimage to the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, a tradition for millions of Muslims across the globe, is slated to start Saturday, according to Al Jazeera.

Shia Iran and Sunni-led Saudi Arabia – long considered regional arch-foes – have been in a row over the annual Hajj. “Muslim nations are suffering and it is a disaster for the world of Islam”, Ayatollah Khamenei said.

In a statement addressed to all Muslims, Khamenei said that instead of apologizing for the stampede or allowing a Muslim global body to investigate what happened, Saudi authorities accused others of wrongdoing.

A total of 465 Iranian pilgrims were killed in the stampede in September past year, and the Tehran government blamed the Saudi authorities for the disaster.

The comments came after Saudi Arabia’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, said Iranians – who are predominantly Shi’a – were “not Muslims”. Iranian and Saudi officials traveled to France last month. More than 400 of the pilgrims who died were Iranian.

And he took the opportunity to point fingers at America and Israel, saying Saudi Arabia’s “behavior towards the Zionists and the U.S.is a source of disgrace for the world of Islam”.

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The crown prince dismissed Khamenei as lacking credibility and objectivity, stressing that the Saudis have never treated Iranian pilgrims any differently than the other pilgrims, while Iranian pilgrims do not always respect the rules of hajj.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a press-conference in Tehran