SAUDI ARABIA

Iranians to return to Hajj after dispute settled

August 30, 2017

After a one-year absence, tens of thousands of Iranians will be among the 2 million pilgrims at Mecca for the annual Hajj. Riyadh and Tehran have settled their dispute over security and logistics that kept Iranian pilgrims away in 2016.

In 2015 a stampede at Islam’s holiest site that left 464 Iranians dead, killing more than 2,000 pilgrims in total. The accident, which Iran blamed on the incompetence of the Hajj organizers, precipitated the dispute.

Politics added heat to the argument. Riyadh and Tehran have no diplomatic relations, and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia repeatedly accuses Iran of supporting armed Shia movements in the region. Al-Jazeera notes that Iran boycotted the Hajj for three years between 1988 and 1990 after clashes between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi police in 1987 left some 400 people dead.

Mecca is no stranger to tragedies. A crane toppled into the Grand Mosque days before the 2015 stampede, leaving 107 people dead and injuring many more. In 2006, a stampede killed at least 363 people. That incident, like others, happened during a ritual in which the pilgrims stone a symbolic devil. Hundreds were killed in stampedes in 2004 and 1998, and 1,426 died in 1990.

There are also worries every year about violence and epidemics: the massive crowd is an attractive target for militants and an efficient medium for spreading viruses.

To avoid new tragedies and increase security, Saudi Arabia is issuing pilgrims with electronic bracelets, using more surveillance cameras at the shrine and tightening crowd control. The Grand Mosque has been enlarged to improve the flow of people. Saudi Civil Defense authorities will provide security during rites, deploying some 17,000 officers.

The Hajj occurs two months and 10 days after Ramadan ends, during the Islamic month of Dhul-Hijjah. Islam requires every Muslim who is physically and financially able, to make the journey to Mecca at least once in his or her life.

#22113 Published: March 23, 2017