1987 Mecca incident

Last updated

1987 Mecca incident
Part of Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict
Beheshte Zahra Cemetery mqbrh jn bkhtgn khshtr Hjj dr mkhh khh dr rwz 9 mrdd 1366 (31 jwy'yh 1987) rwy dd.jpg
Memorial and Tombs of Victims in Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra.
Date31 July 1987 (1987-07-31)
Location
Mecca, Saudi Arabia

21°26′7.18″N39°49′44.68″E / 21.4353278°N 39.8290778°E / 21.4353278; 39.8290778
Caused by Shi'a–Sunni tensions
Parties
Shia pilgrims
Saudi Arabian security forces
Casualties
Death(s)Disputed; between 400 - 402
InjuriesDisputed; estimated 649 - 2,000

On 31 July 1987, during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, a clash between Shia pilgrim demonstrators and the Saudi Arabian security forces resulted in the death of more than 400 people. [1] The event has been variously described as a "riot" or a "massacre". It developed from increasing tensions between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Since 1981, Iranian pilgrims have held a political demonstration against Israel and the United States every year at Hajj, [2] [3] but in 1987, a cordon of Saudi police and the Saudi Arabian National Guard sealed part of the planned [4] demonstration route, resulting in a confrontation between them and the pilgrims. This escalated into a violent clash, followed by a deadly stampede. [5] [6] [7]

Contents

How many pilgrims died and how they died are both disputed. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia blame each other for the loss of life. [8] Estimates of fatalities range from 400 with thousands more injured (Iranian government); [9] 402, of which 275 were Iranian pilgrims, 85 Saudi police, and 42 pilgrims from other countries (Saudi government); [8] and more than 400 dead (New York Times). [3] Saudis claim the pilgrims were armed and died in a stampede. [10] Iranians claim many were killed by Saudi gunfire. [11]

After the incident, Iranians attacked the Saudi, Kuwaiti and French Embassies, abducting four Saudis from the embassy. [3]

Background

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been called "bitter regional rivals" on "opposing sides of bloody conflicts in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq". This is in part for theological reasons — namely the differences between the two Islamic schools of thought that their governments adhere to. [12] The Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam has both long supported the ruling House of Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and long opposed Shi'i Islam as a sect deviant from true Islam. Iranian Shia majority and Shi'i government were well aware of Wahhabi antagonism towards them and the "history of mistrust" between Shi‘ite pilgrims and Sunni hosts "stretches back as far as the sixteenth century". [8] Adding to this was the revolutionary antagonism of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his anti-American, anti-monarchy Iranian Revolutionary followers against the pro-American royal rulers of Saudi Arabia. In a 1987 public address Khomeini declared that "these vile and ungodly Wahhabis are like daggers which have always pierced the heart of the Muslims from the back". He announced that Mecca was in the hands of "a band of heretics", [13] [14] (i.e. the House of Saud).

The incident occurred during the last phase of the bloody Iran–Iraq War, at a moment of "escalating tensions" between Sunni Arab-ruled Iraq (which was receiving help from Sunni Arab-ruled Saudi Arabia) and Persian Shi'i-ruled Iran. America had reflagged of Kuwaiti petroleum tankers and the introduced of foreign naval escorts in the Persian Gulf, a foreign intervention favored by Saudi Arabia and opposed by Iran. .

Serious loss of life at Hajj occurs periodically (in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2015); not surprising in a situation where two million or more pilgrims "all trying to do the same thing in the same place on the same day" while speaking different languages, and are vulnerable to death from suffocation or being physically crushed in the press of the crowd. [15] In 2015, an estimated 2,400 pilgrims, including more than 400 Iranians, were killed in a stampede, that led to a "war of words" between Iran and Saudi Arabia that reached a "fever pitch". [12]

Post-Iranian revolutionary hajjs

For years, Iranian pilgrims had tried to stage demonstrations which are known as "Distancing Ourselves from Mushrikīn" (برائت از مشرکين) in the Muslim holy city of Mecca during the hajj . [16] "Anti shah, anti-Israel and anti-American propaganda during the Hajj" by devotees of Khomeini had been happening since about 1971. [17] These demonstrations had their origins in 1971, when Ruhollah Khomeini instructed his Shiite followers to distribute political messages when performing their pilgrimage. Even though a few Iranians were arrested for this act, the Saudi officials were generally apathetic, as they did not view these political messages to be a threat to the Saudi royalty. [18] After the revolution, following the principles elaborated by Khomeini, they appealed directly to the Muslim pilgrims of other lands gradually heightening political activity in each the pilgrimage. [8] Iran claimed that "the Hajj and the Holy places should be placed under international oversight as opposed to being managed by the Saudis alone". The Saudi government reacted to these disturbances with increasing concern because "the Hajj is an important legitimizing factor for the Saudi ruling family". [17]

The first large clash between Shia pilgrims and Saudi security forces occurred in 1981. [17] In 1981, this was escalated to chanting political slogans in the Masjid al-Haram and the Prophet's Mosque, two of the holiest sites in Islam, resulting in violent clashes with Saudi security and one death. [5] [19] In the same year, King Khalid of Saudi Arabia wrote a letter to Saddam Hussein saying "crush these stupid Iranians" as Saddam continued with the invasion of Iranian territory. [20]

In 1982, Khomeini appointed Hojatoleslam Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha as the supervisor and personal representative of Ayatollah Khomeini. Khoiniha was the "mentor" of the students who had seized the United States Embassy in the Iran hostage crisis. During the hajj that year, Saudi police clashed with demonstrators who Khoiniha addressed in both Medina and Mecca. In Mecca he was arrested, and after giving a speech in Medina following the pilgrimage he was declared an “instigator” and expelled from Saudi Arabia. [8] [21]

During the next few years, both sides tried to calm the situation: Khomeini urged his devotees to maintain peace and order, not to distribute printed political material, and not to criticize Muslim governments. In return, Saudi officials changed their earlier policy and allowed two separate demonstrations to occur: One in Mecca, and the other in Medina. [22] By 1986, the situation was calm enough for Saudi officials to re-open the al-Baqi' cemetery for Shiite pilgrims, and in response, Khomeini's representative formally thanked the Saudi King for the gesture. [23] [24] However, in the same year, Iranian radical Mehdi Hashemi was accused of smuggling explosives on an airplane headed for Saudi Arabia, renewing Saudi fears. [25] [ citation needed ] [26]

Internationally, U.S. naval forces were being introduced into the Persian Gulf during this time in response to the Iran-Iraq War and heightening political tensions. [8]

Planning for 1987 demonstration

According to the speech early in July 1987, Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha said that "a mere march or demonstration by Iranians will not suffice". He demanded that the Saudi regime allow Iranian pilgrims to enter the Great Mosque in Mecca at the end of their demonstration, [8] without the presence of security guards. [27] Then a representative of Khomeini would explain Iran’s case regarding the Iran Iraq war and an Iranian pilgrimage representative would conduct a referendum among all the pilgrims over the decision of the emir of Kuwait to invite foreign escorts for Kuwaiti tankers. [8] “All we ask is that the Saudi government not oppose this, nor send its guards to the Great Mosque. Let us see what happens. We will try it for one year.” [28]

Even though Mehdi Karrubi, who was Khomeini's official pilgrimage representative that year, tried to assure Saudi officials that the demonstrations would occur in the usual manner and in the agreed routes, it did little to quell the Saudi fears. [29]

But Saudis and Iranians worked together to go over "the route of the planned demonstration". [8] As a result of dialogue and strict regulations which were imposed after it, it was agreed that "the demonstration would end half a kilometer before the great Mosque", but the decision "put the Saudi security forces on a high state of alert", [30] and Saudi authorities "remained deeply suspicious". [8] An unnamed Saudi authority quoted by Israeli scholar Martin Kramer criticized the planned demonstration, stating that while Saudi Arabia provided occasions "for the expression of Muslim opinion on various matters", even during the hajj, political demonstrations in the Great Mosque would constitute a religious innovation in Islam ( Bid'ah ), and “anyone who attempts to innovate in Islam will go to hell.” [8] Just before the Mecca demonstration, Saudis pressured the Iranian representative Karrubi to cancel the march, which he refused to do. [8]

Two days before the planned demonstration, Khomeini’s annual message to the pilgrims was published, which as in years past, "included the customary plea" to pilgrims that they 'avoid clashes, insults, and disputes,' and warned against those intent on disruption 'who might embark on spontaneous moves'. [8] [31]

1987 demonstrations

On Friday 31 July 1987, the demonstration started amid heightened security after Friday's midday prayers, while Iranian pilgrims chanted "Death to America! Death to the Soviet Union! Death to Israel!". [3] The march was uneventful until the end of the planned route when the demonstrators found their way blocked by Saudi riot police and National Guardsmen. At this point, some of the Iranians began to call for the demonstrators to press ahead and continue to the Great Mosque, at the same time "unidentified persons in an adjacent parking garage" began to throw "bricks, pieces of concrete, and iron bars" at the Iranians. [8] These events angered the Iranians, escalating the situation into a violent clash between the Iranian pilgrims and the Saudi security forces. [8]

Force used

The Saudis reportedly used truncheons and electric prods and the Iranians reportedly used knives and clubs. [32] Saudi security personnel deny firing at the demonstrators, [33] [10] Saudi officials insist that no shots were fired, and that all deaths were caused by the melee and stampede. In a Washington news conference, the Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan claimed that "not one bullet was fired", blaming the violence on the Iranian pilgrims who he accused of "brandishing knives, clubs and broken glass drawn from beneath their cloaks". [10]

Iranian officials maintain that the Saudis had fired on the protesters without provocation and that the demonstrations had been peaceful. [10] Robin Wright also reports that "many of the Iranian bodies, shown to American and European reporters immediately upon their return to Tehran, had bullet punctures." [11] Ami Ayalon, an Israeli politician, wrote that "most of the Iranian pilgrims apparently shot by Saudi security authorities during the demonstration". [34] Martin Kramer also writes that "according to American intelligence sources, the tide was finally turned by reinforcements from the National Guard, who fired tear gas shells into the crowd and then opened fire with pistols and automatic weapons". [35] [8]

Casualties

The rioting and the resulting stampede reportedly caused the death of 402 people (275 Iranians, 85 Saudis, including policemen, and 42 pilgrims from other countries) and 649 people were reportedly wounded (303 Iranians, 145 Saudis and 201 other nationals). [33] The Iranian news agency announced that "200 Iranians had been killed and more than 2,000 wounded". [3] Martin Kramer states that the Iranian authorities claimed that 400 Iranian pilgrims died, and that several thousand were injured. [8]

Reaction/aftermath

After the incident, Ali Khamenei, then president of Iran, declared that "they are now propagandizing and claiming that this incident was a war between Shia and Sunni. This is a lie! Of course, there is a war, but a war between the American perception of Islam and true revolutionary Islam." [36]

Another high level Iranian leader, Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, urged Muslim religious leaders to "wrest control of Islam's holy sites in Saudi Arabia from the royal family". [3] In Iraq, the Revolutionary Command Council, ostensibly an organ of the secular Baath Arab socialist party, demanded that visiting of Islam's holy sites by Iranians should be banned. [3] The Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon asked Saudi Arabia to "pay for the deaths of the Shiite pilgrims". [3]

On 3 August 1987, one million Iranians converged on the Parliament building in Teheran, screaming "Revenge! Revenge!" in a rally "marking what was officially described as 'a day of hate,' according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency". [37] [38] On the same day, the Iranian leader Khomeini called on Saudis to overthrow the House of Saud to avenge the pilgrims' deaths. [39]

For three years after the incident of 1987 -- from 1988 to 1990 -- the Iranian government banned Iranians from going on the Hajj but "diplomatic ties were restored in 1991". [40] Following the incident, Saudi Arabia ended its diplomatic relations with Iran and it reduced the number of permitted Iranian pilgrims to 45,000, down from 150,000 in earlier years. [41] In 1991, Iran and Saudi Arabia renewed diplomatic relations after agreeing to allow Iranian pilgrims to perform the Hajj once more. The total number of pilgrims was set at 115,000, and the demonstrations by Iranians were again allowed, but only in one specific location granted by the Saudis. By this agreement, Iranian pilgrims continued their annual demonstration during the 1990s and 2000s with few or no incidents. They limited their rally to within the confines of their compound in Mecca. [42]

Approximately 20,000 Pakistani troops who were stationed in Saudi Arabia were sent back to Pakistan, because Saudi Arabia was uncomfortable with the presence of Shi'ite soldiers. [43]

Martin Kramer writes that "as no independent investigation will ever be conducted, important details will remain in doubt. But no evidence has been produced by Saudi Arabia or Iran to establish that the other side acted deliberately or with premeditation in order to provoke violence." [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mecca</span> Holiest city in Islam, Saudi Arabian provincial capital

Mecca is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia and the holiest city according to Islam. It is 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its last recorded population was 2,385,509 in 2022. Its metropolitan population in 2022 was 2.4 million, making it the third-most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. Around 44.5% of the population are Saudi citizens and around 55.5% are foreigners from other Muslim countries. Pilgrims more than triple the population number every year during the Ḥajj pilgrimage, observed in the twelfth Hijri month of Dhūl-Ḥijjah. With over 10.8 million international visitors in 2023, Mecca was one of the ten most visited cities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Saudi Arabia</span> State religion

Sunni Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is called the "home of Islam"; it was the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who united and ruled the Arabian Peninsula. It is the location of the cities of Mecca and Medina, where Prophet Muhammad lived and died, and are now the two holiest cities of Islam. The kingdom attracts millions of Muslim Hajj pilgrims annually, and thousands of clerics and students who come from across the Muslim world to study. The official title of the King of Saudi Arabia is "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques"—the two being Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina—which are considered the holiest in Islam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incidents during the Hajj</span> History of accidents during the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca

There have been numerous incidents during the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to the cities of Mecca and Medina, that have caused loss of life. Every follower of Islam is required to visit Mecca and Medina during the Hajj at least once in their lifetime, if able to do so; according to Islam, the pilgrimage is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. During the month of the Hajj, Mecca and Medina must cope with as many as three million pilgrims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mina, Saudi Arabia</span> Neighbourhood in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Mina, also known as Muna, and commonly known as the "City of the Tents" is a valley located 8 kilometres southeast of the city of Mecca, in the district of Masha'er, Province of Makkah in the Hejazi region Saudi Arabia. Covering an area of approximately 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi), Mina incorporates the tents, the area of Jamarat, and the slaughterhouses just outside the tents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arab League–Iran relations</span> Bilateral relations

The dynamic between the League of Arab States and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been ambivalent, owing to the latter's varying bilateral conduct with each country of the former. Iran is located on the easternmost frontier of the Arab League, which consists of 22 Arab countries and spans the bulk of the Middle East and North Africa, of which Iran is also a part. The Arab League's population is dominated by ethnic Arabs, whereas Iran's population is dominated by ethnic Persians; and while both sides have Islam as a common religion, their sects differ, with Sunnis constituting the majority in the Arab League and Shias constituting the majority in Iran. Since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, the country's Shia theocracy has attempted to assert itself as the legitimate religious and political leadership of all Muslims, contesting a status that has generally been understood as belonging to Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia, where the cities of Mecca and Medina are located. This animosity, manifested in the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, has greatly exacerbated the Shia–Sunni divide throughout the Muslim world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hezbollah Al-Hejaz</span> Shia militant organization operating in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain

Hezbollah Al-Hejaz, or Hizbollah in the Hijaz, is a militant Shia organization operating in Saudi Arabia. It was founded in May 1987 in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. In the years 1987–89 the party launched attacks against official Saudi targets inside and outside Saudi Arabia. After being implicated in the Khobar Towers Bombing in 1996, the party was outlawed in Saudi Arabia. The party was part of the Iranian government's "exporting the Islamic revolution" policy. Most of its members were arrested and the party practically ceased to exist. In 2014 it was designated a terrorist organization by the kingdom's government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holiest sites in Islam</span>

The holiest sites in Islam are predominantly located in the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant. While the significance of most places typically varies depending on the Islamic sect, there is a consensus across all mainstream branches of the religion that affirms three cities as having the highest degree of holiness, in descending order: Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. Mecca's Al-Masjid al-Haram, Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina and Al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem are all revered by Muslims as sites of great importance.

After the death of Muhammad in 632, a group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Sunnis, believed that Muhammad's successor as caliph of the Islamic community should be Abu Bakr, whereas a second group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Shias, believed that his successor should have been Ali ibn Abi Talib. This dispute spread across various parts of the Muslim world, which eventually led to the Battle of the Camel and Battle of Siffin. Sectarianism based on this historic dispute intensified greatly after the Battle of Karbala, in which Husayn ibn Ali and some of his close partisans, including members and children of Muhammad's household, were killed by the ruling Umayyad Caliph Yazid I, and the outcry for revenge divided the early Islamic community, albeit disproportionately, into two groups, the Sunni and the Shia. This is known today as the Islamic schism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iran–Saudi Arabia relations</span> Bilateral relations

Bilateral relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been strained over several geopolitical issues, such as aspirations for regional leadership, oil export policy and relations with the United States and other Western countries. Diplomatic relations were suspended from 1987 to 1990, and in 2016 for seven years following certain issues like the intervention in Yemen, Iran embassy bombing in Yemen, incidents in 2015 Hajj, the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, the attack on the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. However, in March 2023, after discussions brokered by China and Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish relations.

The Saudi government does not conduct a census on religion or ethnicity, but some sources estimate the Shia population in Saudi Arabia to make up around 20% of the approximately 34 million natives of Saudi Arabia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hajj</span> Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca

Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and of supporting their family during their absence from home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Sunnism</span> Prejudice towards Sunni Muslims

Anti-Sunnism or Sunniphobia is hatred of, prejudice against, discrimination against, persecution of, and violence against Sunni Muslims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Hajj</span>

The hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca performed by millions of Muslims every year, coming from all over the Muslim world. Its history goes back many centuries. The present pattern of the Islamic Hajj was established by Islamic prophet Muhammad, around 632 CE, who reformed the existing pilgrimage tradition of the pagan Arabs. According to Islamic tradition, the hajj dates from thousands of years earlier, from when Abraham, upon God's command, built the Kaaba. This cubic building is considered the most holy site in Islam and the rituals of the hajj include walking repeatedly around it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Mina stampede</span> Fatal Mecca crowd crush during the Hajj

On 24 September 2015, a fatal crowd crush resulted in the death of more than 2,000 individuals, many of whom were suffocated or crushed, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, making it the deadliest Hajj disaster in history. Estimates of the number of dead vary: the Associated Press reported 2,411 dead, while Agence France-Presse reported 2,236 killed. Based on the total of the individual national reports cited in the table below, at least 2,431 people died. The government of Saudi Arabia officially reported two days after the event that there had been 769 deaths and 934 injured. These figures remained official at the time of the next year's Hajj and were never updated. The largest number of victims were from Iran, followed by Mali and Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 Mecca tunnel tragedy</span> 1990 disaster during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

On 3 July 1990, 1,426 people were suffocated and trampled to death in a crowd crush or stampede event in a tunnel near Mecca during the Hajj.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arba'in pilgrimage</span> Pilgrimage to Imam Hussein shrine

The Arba'in pilgrimage is the world's largest annual public gathering. It is a pilgrimage to the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the third Shia imam. Every year, on the twentieth of Safar, also known as Arba'in, millions of pilgrims flock to Karbala, Iraq, often arriving there on foot from the nearby city of Najaf. Arba'in marks forty days after the tenth of Muharram, known as Ashura. On this day in 61 AH, Husayn was killed, alongside most of his relatives and his small retinue, in the Battle of Karbala against the army of the Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn Mu'awiya. The battle followed Husayn's refusal to pledge his allegiance to Yazid, who is often portrayed by Muslim historians as impious and immoral. In Shia Islam, Karbala symbolizes the eternal struggle between good and evil, the pinnacle of self-sacrifice, and the ultimate sabotage of Muhammad's prophetic mission. 

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict</span> Indirect conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia

Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaged in an ongoing struggle for influence in the Middle East and other regions of the Muslim world. The two countries have provided varying degrees of support to opposing sides in nearby conflicts, including the civil wars in Syria and Yemen; and disputes in Bahrain, Lebanon, Qatar, and Iraq. The struggle also extends to disputes or broader competition in other countries globally including in West, North and East Africa, South, Central, Southeast Asia, the Balkans, and the Caucasus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demolition of al-Baqi</span> Destruction of al-Baqi cemetery in Medina by Wahhabis in 1806 and 1925/26

Al-Baqi cemetery, the oldest and one of the two most important Islamic graveyards located in Medina, in current-day Saudi Arabia, was demolished in 1806 and, following reconstruction in the mid-19th century, was destroyed again in 1925 or 1926. An alliance of the House of Saud and the followers of the Wahhabi movement known as the Emirate of Diriyah carried out the first demolition. The Sultanate of Nejd, also ruled by the House of Saud and followers of Wahhabism, carried out the second. In both cases, the actors were motivated by the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, which prohibits the building of monuments on graves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sectarianism in Saudi Arabia</span>

Sectarianism in Saudi Arabia refers to the Saudi government's "top-down push towards sectarian polarization" between the Sunni majority, and Shi'ite minority. This encompasses anti-Shi'ite policies by the Saudi regime, as well as tensions between the Sunni majority and the Shi'ite minority. The Saudi government is often viewed to be oppressing the Shi'ite community, who constitute up to 15% of the Saudi population. This occurs against the backdrop of the broader Iran-Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, since Iran is a Shi'ite republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Hajj</span> Effect of viral outbreak on Muslim pilgrimage

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the 2020 Hajj (pilgrimage), which is the fifth pillar of the Five Pillars of Islam, where millions of Muslims from around the world visit Mecca and Medina every year during Hajj season for a week. Over 2,400,000 pilgrims attended Hajj in 2019. Due to the highly contagious nature of COVID-19 in crowded places, various international travel restrictions, and social distancing recommendations, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah advised Muslims to postpone their pilgrimage until the pandemic was mitigated. However, in June 2020, the Ministry opened up Hajj to people of all nationalities residing in Saudi Arabia, with foreigners still banned from attending to ensure pilgrims' safety and prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

References

  1. ↑ "Timeline of tragedies during hajj pilgrimage in Mecca". The Guardian. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Sivan, Emmanuel; Friedman, Menachem (29 August 1990). Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East. SUNY Press. p. 183.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kifner, John (2 August 1987). "400 Die As Iranian Marchers Battle Saudi Police in Mecca; Embassies Smashed in Teheran – Gulf Tensions Rise – Angry Crowds Rampage at the Saudi, Kuwaiti and French Offices". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "Hajj: Major incidents". aljazeera. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  5. 1 2 Sivan, Emmanuel; Friedman, Menachem (29 August 1990). Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East. SUNY Press. ISBN   9780791401590.
  6. ↑ Sivan and Friedman, Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East, p.190
  7. ↑ Barkan, Elazar; Barkey, Karen (11 November 2014). Choreographies of Shared Sacred Sites: Religion, Politics, and Conflict. Columbia University Press. p. 14. ISBN   9780231538060.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Kramer, Martin S. (30 September 1996), "Khomeini's Messengers in Mecca", Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival, Transaction Publishers, ISBN   978-1560002727
  9. ↑ Sivan and Friedman, Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East, p. 190
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Saudis Report Broad Support for Mecca Policy : Envoy Says Heads of 40 Nations Hail Tough Stand Against Iranian Rioters". Los Angeles Times. 7 August 1987.
  11. 1 2 In the Name of God: The Khomeini Decade by Robin Wright, p166
  12. 1 2 "Strained History: Iran-Saudi War Of Words Over Hajj". rferl.org. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  13. ↑ Kramer, Martin S. (30 September 1996), "Khomeini's Messengers in Mecca", Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival, Transaction Publishers, ISBN   978-1560002727
  14. ↑ Commins, David (2009). The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia. I.B. Tauris. p. 171. Tehran's efforts to export the revolution through leaflets, radio broadcasts and tape cassettes castigating Al Saud for corruption and hypocrisy found a receptive audience in the Eastern Province. On 28 November, Saudi Shia summoned the courage to break the taboo on public religious expression by holding processions to celebrate the Shia holy day of Ashura [...]
    "on 1 February, the one-year anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Iran, violent demonstrations again erupted. Crowds attacked banks and vehicles and hoisted placards with Khomeini's picture. The government responded to the February protests with a mix of coercion and co-optation. On the one hand, leading Shiite activists were arrested. On the other, a high official from the Interior Ministry met with Shiite representatives and acknowledged that Riyadh had neglected the region's development needs. [...] extend the electricity network [...] more schools and hospitals and improve sewage disposal.
  15. ↑ LANGEWIESCHE, WILLIAM (9 January 2018). "The 10-Minute Mecca Stampede That Made History". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  16. ↑ "BBCPersian.com". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 Matthiesen, Toby (22 December 2014). The Other Saudis. Cambridge University Press. p. 128. ISBN   9781107043046.
  18. ↑ Sivan and Friedman, Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East, p. 182
  19. ↑ Sivan and Friedman, Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East, p. 183
  20. ↑ "ميراث پان عربيسم" (PDF). azargoshnasp.net (in Arabic).
  21. ↑ SAHIMI, MUHAMMAD. "The power behind the scene: Khoeiniha". PBS. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  22. ↑ Sivan and Friedman, Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East, p.186
  23. ↑ Kramer, Martin S. (January 1996). Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival. Transaction Publishers. p. 164. ISBN   978-1-56000-272-7.
  24. ↑ Kramer, Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival, page 177
  25. ↑ "Amid New Revelations, 1986 Hajj Terror Plot Must Finally be Fully Investigated". 31 October 2018.
  26. ↑ Los Angeles Times (14 November 1986). "New Gang May Hold 3 Americans – Latest Kidnapping Could Mean Fury Against Secret Talks". orlandosentinel.
  27. ↑ Rabinovich, Itamar; Shaked, Haim (1989). Middle East Contemporary Survey. The Moshe Dayan Center. p.  172. ISBN   9780813309255. All we ask is that the Saudi government not oppose this, nor send its guards to the Great Mosque. Let us see what happens. We will try it for one year.
  28. ↑ Khoeniha’s speech, Radio Tehran, 2 July 1987, quoted in BBC Summary, 4 July 1987.
  29. ↑ Sivan and Friedman, Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East, p.188
  30. ↑ Brecher, Michael; Wilkenfeld, Jonathan (1997). A Study of Crisis. University of Michigan Press. p. 656. ISBN   9780472108060.
  31. ↑ From Beirut to Jerusalem Thomas L. Friedman – 1990 – 541 pages – Snippet view
  32. ↑ Sivan and Friedman, Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East, p.189
  33. 1 2 K. McLachlan, Iran and the Continuing Crisis in the Persian Gulf. GeoJournal , Vol.28, Issue 3, Nov. 1992, p.359; also, "400 Die as Iranian Marchers Battle Saudi Police in Mecca; Embassies Smashed in Tehran", The New York Times, 8/2/87
  34. ↑ Ayalon, Ami (25 September 1990). Middle East Contemporary Survey, Volume Xii, 1988. The Moshe Dayan Center. ISBN   9780813310442.
  35. ↑ Report on the assessment of American intelligence sources, New York Times, 6 September 1987.
  36. ↑ Kramer, Martin Seth (31 December 2011). Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival: The Politics of Ideas in the Middle East. Transaction Publishers. p. 162. ISBN   9781412817394.
  37. ↑ Kifner, John (3 August 1987). "IRANIAN OFFICIALS URGE 'UPROOTING' OF SAUDI ROYALTY". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  38. ↑ "A spontaneous demonstration in Tehran on 1 August ended in attacks on the Saudi and Kuwaiti embassies." The longest war: the Iran-Iraq military conflict, page 225
  39. ↑ "Khomeini called for the overthrow of the Saudi royal family to avenge the pilgrims' deaths" Saudi Arabia A Country Study, page 271
  40. ↑ "Saudi-Iran war of words escalates over Hajj row". aljazeera. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  41. ↑ Kramer, Martin Seth (2011). "The Three-Year Boycott". Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival: The Politics of Ideas in the Middle East. Transaction Publishers. p. 176. ISBN   978-1412817394.
  42. ↑ Kramer, Martin Seth (2011). "An Understanding Renewed?". Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival: The Politics of Ideas in the Middle East. Transaction Publishers. p. 178. ISBN   978-1412817394.
  43. ↑ Christophe Jaffrelot (12 April 2016). Pakistan at the Crossroads: Domestic Dynamics and External Pressures. Columbia University Press. p. 307. ISBN   978-0-231-54025-4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.