Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday accused Saudi Arabia of “murder” over the deaths of almost 2,300 pilgrims, including hundreds of Iranians, in a stampede during last year’s pilgrimage. Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion predating Christianity and Islam and was the dominant religion in Persia before the Arab conquest.
Advertisement
Khamenei said that because of the Saudi rulers’ oppressive behaviour towards God’s guests, the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider the management of the two holy places and the issue of Hajj.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are regional rivals boasting two different majority Muslim populations, with Saudi Arabia being home to majority Sunni Muslims and Iran the world’s largest majority-Shiite nation.
Animosity between Sunnis – who make up an estimated 85-90% of Saudi Arabia’s population – and Shia – about 90-95% of Iran’s population – goes back to a 7th Century schism.
The Mufti’s remarks were made after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei criticized those in charge of Hajj over last year’s Mina tragedy.
Saudi authorities have published few details of the official investigation into the incident.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif responded to Al Sheikh’s remarks with a tweet, linking Saudi Wahabism to the fundamentalist terrorism of the moment.
Saudi authorities normally seek to avoid public discussion of whether Shias are Muslims, but implicitly recognise them as such by welcoming them to the haj, and by accepting Iranian visits to the Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Tehran and Riyadh severed diplomatic relations in January after Saudi Arabia executed 47 “terrorists”, including a Shia religious leader and a convicted al-Qaeda leader, and angry Iranian crowds stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran. Saudi Arabia is home to the holiest locations in Islam, the cities of Mecca and Medina, and oversees the hajj, or mandatory pilgrimage, to Mecca every year. The Iranian government blocked its pilgrims from coming to Haj this year with a view to politicizing the pilgrimage.
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.
Advertisement
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused “heartless and murderous Saudis” of deliberately causing the death of Iranian pilgrims in the 2015 crush on the outskirts of Mecca in 2015 which killed more than 2,000 people. The split between Islam’s main sects dates to a dispute among Muslims over who would rule their community after the death of the Prophet Mohammad, and Shias still regard his descendents as a line of imams blessed with divine guidance.
