Iran’s Culture Minister Ali Jannati announced today that Iranian Shiites would boycott Saudi Arabia’s 2016 Hajj, a yearly pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, considered high on the priority for the world’s devout Muslims. Calling Saudi Arabia “incompetent” for managing the 2015 Hajj that killed 1,453 pilgrims, including 464 Iranians, Jannati said Iranians would not attend in 2016. Unable to resolve damage claims for the Sept. 24, 2015 panic and stampede in Mecca’s Mina area, Jannati said Riyadh has yet to “resolve the issue” with regarding to paying damages. “We did whatever we could but it was the Saudis who sabotaged,” outstanding issues about reparations for families whose loved ones died. Accounting for about 5% of yearly visitors to the Hajj, Iran’s boycott speaks volumes about the deteriorated state of diplomatic relations between the two powerful Mideast states.
Accusations have gone back-and-forth between Tehran and Riyadh about much more than the Hajj, especially the ongoing Syria War and the Saudi battle against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Bombing Yemen Port of Aden since Houthis seized the area March 26, 2015, Saudi Arabia has done little to rid the area of Houthi rebels. Engaged in a proxy war with Iran in Yemen, the battle front shifted to Syria where large numbers of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Al-Qud’s forces help defend Syria President Basha al-Assad from a determined Saudi-and-U.S.-backed proxy war. When Democratic front-runner former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Iran at a MSNBC debate Feb. 5 “the world’s chief sponsor of stte terrorism,” it spoke volumes about her foreign policy. Hillary’s remarks mirrored Feb. 14 remarks of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a Munich Security Conference.
Whatever happened with Iran backing Yemen’s Houthis rebels, it’s Saudi Arabia, not Iran, that funds, supplies and arms fighters to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Speaking in Geneva May 2, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir stated Saudi Arabia’s Syrian policy clearly: The war won’t end until al-Assad goes. When you consider over 250,000 deaths and some 11 million displaced from Syria to neighboring countries and Europe, the Saudi policy has caused more chaos and misery in the Mideast than any other country. Boycotting the Hajj doesn’t begin to acknowledge Saudi’s key role in sponsoring and promoting the war in Syria. Whatever happens with the Houthis in Yemen, it’s small potatoes when you consider the death-and-destruction in Syria and Iraq. Syrian peace talks led by U.N. Envoy Staffan de Mistura have gone nowhere because of the Saudis.
Beheading Iranian Cleric Nimr al-Nimr Jan. 2 also didn’t help Saudi-Iranian relations hitting its worst level since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Saudi Arabia’s extreme Wahhabi brand of Sunni Islam shows no tolerance for Iran’s Shiite sect. When former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Saudi King Abdullah March 1, 2007 for the first time, things between the two Islamic powers looked up. While competing in world oil sales, both countries found common ground ripping Israel. Only three months before, Ahmadinejad hosted a Holocaust deniers conference in Tehran Dec. 11, 2006. While Iran continues its offensive ways toward Israel hosting a Holocaust cartoon contest Feb. 14, Saudi Arabia under King Salman has cemented strong military ties with Israel. Saudi Arabia finds little common ground with Iran with the current Syrian conflict.
Whatever the problems with last year’s stampede in Mecca cutting off diplomatic ties with Iran Jan. 3, Tehran, it assured a 2016 Hajj boycott. As long as the Syrian War rages on, a Iran’s al-Quds force and Hezbollah militia battles Saudi-backed rebel groups, like Jaysh al-Islam, there’s little chance of restoring diplomatic relations. Backing Saudi Arabia’s proxy war against al-Assad, the U.S. also guarantees that it won’t restore diplomatic relations with Tehran anytime soon. Backing Saudi Arabia’s proxy war pits the U.S. against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite agreeing to reinstate a Feb. 27 Syrian ceasefire, Putin has no intention of abandoning al-Assad. With some 64,000 Iranians out of 2 million attending the 2015 Hajj, Iran hopes to make Saudi Arabia feel the boycott. Last year’s stampede was only one reason why Tehran will miss this years’ pilgrimage to Mecca and Media.
Without diplomatic relations and unofficially at war with Saudi Arabia, Iran decided to boycott the 2016. Hajj. As long as Iran’s al-Quds’ Special Forces and Hezbollah’s militia battle Saudi rebels in Syria, there’s little chance Saudi Arabia seeks diplomatic ties with Iran. “In the absence of an Iranian consular office in Saudi Arabia following the break between Tehran and Riyadh, Iran’s proposals regarding visa applications, air transport and security were not accepted by Saudi officials,” said Jannati, stating the reasons for canceling participation in the 2016 Hajj. With Syrian peace talks failing for the second time in Geneva, it’s time for the U.S. to take a different path than the Saudis. Today’s Syrian refugee crisis threatens the European Union, calling for urgent steps to end the war. Insisting that al-Assad leave Damascus, Saudi Arabia offers no way to end the war.
