‘Saudi Arabia cannot give up Haj management with its successes’

An American researcher has said that the goal of the Iranian leadership in making false claims against the Kingdom is to mobilize public opinion to rethink the mandate of Saudi Arabia over Makkah and Madinah. This is the same issue that motivated Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, when he previously blamed the Kingdom for the stampede incident during the Haj season in 2015.
Joseph Kéchichian, a researcher at King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS), told a local newspaper: “It is only natural that Riyadh refuses these criticisms that claim the incident was the result of weak management, because the Kingdom has gone so far in managing unprecedented crowds on an annual basis.”
Additionally, he wondered if this kind of criticism is simply adding fuel to the sectarian fire of division that is consuming the Islamic world.
He stressed the fact that Iran's overall objective in reviving the memory of the Haj tragedy in 2015 is simple: “Iran is ready to use all possible means of intimidation including its efforts to stoke the fires of sectarianism to achieve its goals that preceded the stampede incident in 2015. This goal is to refer all control over Haj Affairs to a committee led by Iranian experts.”
The researcher said the Kingdom will not abandon its responsibility to manage the Two Holy Mosques.
He said that what worries Khamenei and the Iranians in general is the fact that the leadership of the Kingdom refused the Islamic Revolution in Iran and dismissed its sectarian preferences.
“Iran relies on religious identity to strengthen its power in a number of dogmatic ways, cautiously moving its dependencies along sectarian lines to impose its political and ideological preferences led by a religious figure, and this something that must be known,” he added.
He concluded by saying that while the Iranian leadership has openly encouraged the committing of atrocities in the name of religion, the Kingdom has never and would never in the future call for such acts to be carried out, highlighting the vast differences between the two countries.

Source: Arab News