After Riyadh deported 150 Iranian pilgrims from the country, the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince says Iranians have always been respectful of the Hajj.
“Iranians have invariably emphasized their respect for Hajj….They are Muslim and revere this [religious] ritual, [this holy] place and [this sacred] time”, Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz was quoted by the Arabic-language Alriyadh newspaper as saying Wednesday.
The remarks come a few days after a Saudi airport security forces accused 150 Iranian pilgrims of holding fake visas and prevented them from entering the country.
Nayef, who is also the interior minister of Saudi Arabia, warned on Tuesday that the US-backed kingdom would employ all means necessary during the Hajj rituals to deal with any unrest in the country.
According to the head of Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Ali Layali, about 97,000 Iranians are now on pilgrimage in the western cities of Medina and Mecca.
Iranian pilgrims are no stranger to mistreatment by Saudi agents, particularly during the Hajj season. In 2007, Saudi police began fingerprinting Iranian citizens who traveled to the country for the Hajj rituals.
In July 1987, Saudi police forces engaged in a massive armed assault on an anti-US rally by thousands of Hajj pilgrims in Mecca, killing over 400 Muslim pilgrims, including many women, and injuring hundreds more.
Saudi Arabia is a Wahhabi state. Wahhabism is an extremely intolerant interpretation of Islam and gained momentum after the discovery of oil in the kingdom in 1938.
source : http://abna.ir
