Saudis, Iranians in war of words
TEHRAN• For millions of Muslims, the hajj is a time for devotion and self-renewal, free from the sectarian divisions that run through much of the Islamic world.
But for Middle Eastern regional powers Iran and Saudi Arabia, the run- up to this year’s pilgrimage has taken a different tone. Their historic rivalry, which extends from global oil markets to the interpretation of Islam, has flared again with a bitter accusations coming from both sides.
Wednesday, as hundreds of thousands of Muslims began arriving in Saudi Arabia to participate in the annual pilgrimage, Iran’s president called on the Muslim world to “punish” Saudi Arabia following last year’s hajj crush and stampede that killed more than 2,400 people. Iranians are not taking part in this year’s hajj, a ritual required of all ablebodied Muslims at least once in their life.
And on Monday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the kingdom of “murdering” pilgrims during last year’s hajj. Khamenei, the ultimate arbiter in Shiite Iran, called on fellow Muslims to re- evaluate Saudi rulers’ management of the faith’s holy sites.
Top Saudi Sunni cleric Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh responded in kind, dismissing Khamenei’s comments as “not surprising,” given Iranians are “not Muslims” and “their hostility toward Muslims is an old one.” The comments did not go down well with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who took to Twitter to attack the “bigoted extremism” preached by the Wahhabi cleric.
Saudi officials defended their running of the pilgrimage, with Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Nayef on Sept. 5 saying the kingdom had always provided Iranian pilgrims access to all facilities. Iranian authorities “politicize hajj and convert it into an occasion to violate the teachings of Islam,” he said, according to the staterun Saudi Press Agency.
On social media, Khamenei’s accounts used the hashtag# al Saud Hi jacks Hajj to criticize the kingdom, while reiterating his demand that someone other than the Saudis be in charge of administering the hajj. Iran claims Saudi Arabia has not properly investigated the disaster and, in fact, accused Saudi authorities of acting as “bystanders rather than rescuing” those caught in the disaster. Iran had the highest death toll of any country, with 464 Iranian pilgrims killed.
In January, tensions between the longtime rivals soared after the kingdom executed a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric. Angry demonstrators later attacked two Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran and Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties to the Islamic Republic. The two countries also support opposing sides in the civil wars in Syria and Yemen.