SAUDI ARABIA ACCUSED OF BLOCKING HAJJ PILGRIMS

LONDON Iran accused Saudi Arabia of “blocking the path leading to Allah” Sunday when Tehran announced that its pilgrims would not perform the Hajj in Mecca this year.

If this ban is enforced, the annual Hajj in September will be the first in 30 years without any pilgrims from Iran, the largest Shiite Muslim nation.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are bitter rivals, seeing themselves as the leaders of Shiite and Sunni Islam respectively. Officials from both countries have tried to negotiate arrangements for Iranians to perform the Hajj this year, but without success.

The failure to reach agreement was because of “obstacles raised by the Saudis,” said Ali Jannati, the Iranian culture minister. The Iranian Hajj Organization said: “Saudi Arabia is opposing the absolute right of Iranians to go on the Hajj and is blocking the path leading to Allah.”

Last year, 60,000 Iranians travelled to Mecca. But a stampede caused the death of 2,300 pilgrims, including 464 Iranians, leading Tehran to accuse the kingdom of being unable or unwilling to manage the Hajj safely.