Hajj Spat: Saudi FM Says Iran ‘Answerable to Allah’ For Trying to Politicize Pilgrimage
By Patrick Goodenough | May 31, 2016 | 4:41 AM EDT
(CNSNews.com) – The sectarian-charged rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran widened Monday, with the regional rivals sniping at each other over an Iranian decision not to participate in this year’s pilgrimage to Mecca.
Iranian officials said the Sunni kingdom during bilateral discussions stipulated conditions making it impossible for Iran to take part in a “dignified” manner, including a ban on Iranian flags. President Hasan Rouhani said Saudi Arabia’s stance served the interests of “the Zionists.”
For its part, Saudi Arabia said the Iranians had demanded the right to hold demonstrations during the hajj – the annual pilgrimage that is one of Islam’s “five pillars” – and Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said Tehran would be “answerable to Allah” for its attitude.
Iran demanded the right to organize demonstrations and to have privileges that would cause chaos during the hajj. This is unacceptable,” he said during a joint press conference with his visiting British counterpart Philip Hammond in Jeddah.
“Iran’s intention from the start was to maneuver and find excuses in order to prevent its citizens from performing hajj,” Al-Jubeir said. “They are now answerable to Allah.”
The dispute comes amid a deepening rift between Sunnis and Shi’ites, which dates back to a succession dispute after the death of Mohammed 14 centuries ago.
The sectarian divide plays a key role in the civil wars in Syria and Yemen, where Sunni- and Shia-led forces are warring for control.
In Syria, the Assad regime and its allies, primarily Iran and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, are in the Shia camp while rebels trying to topple it are predominantly Sunnis, supported by the Sunni Gulf states. Sectarian rhetoric has been used by clerics on both sides in their references to the other.
In Yemen, a Saudi-led Sunni airstrike campaign is targeting Shia Houthi militia, supported by Iran.
The location of Islam’s most revered shrines – in Mecca and Medina – make Saudi Arabia a focal point of the religion, as reflected in the Saudi monarch’s official title, “custodian of the two holy mosques.”
The hajj brings together millions of Sunnis and Shi’ites from around the world for several days during which various rites are performed, including special prayers, animal sacrifices and a symbolic “stoning of the devil.”
Last year’s “stoning of the devil” ritual saw hundreds of Iranian pilgrims among those who were killed in a stampede, prompting Iranian leaders from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei down to lash out at the kingdom.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/hajj-spat-saudi-fm-says-iran-answerable-allah-trying-politicize
