Iranians are sceptical about that. But analysts across the region agree the depth of the crisis may be determined largely by the results of the Saudi probe and how much is published.
Former Iranian lawmaker Elias Hazrati told Reuters by phone from Tehran that Iran was not playing politics over the haj.
“MISMANAGEMENT”
“Tehran is simply asking Riyadh to take responsibility,” he said. “If this incident happened only once we could call it an accident, but this is happening every few years. The Saudis’ mismanagement is the problem of all the Islamic world, not Tehran.”
Saudi commentators point the finger at Tehran.
Jamal Khashoggi, head of a Saudi news channel owned by a prince, said investigators were looking at the actions of a large number of Iranian pilgrims who “happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time”.
“I think Saudi Arabia will speak very loudly on the issue when the result of the investigations come out. No statement has been made officially, but now it seems that the Iranians will be blamed because they took their hajjis in the wrong direction at the wrong time. That was very irresponsible,” he said.
The rivals have overcome previous crises in their relations.
A late 1990s rapprochement followed a 1996 truck-bombing in the kingdom that killed 19 U.S. service personnel and clashes at the 1987 haj between Iranian protesters and Saudi police that led to the death of 400 people, mainly Iranians.
Saudi Arabia and the United States accused Iran of orchestrating the 1996 attack. Iran denied any role.
But the rapprochement happened at a time of relative Gulf stability, above all when Iraq was ruled by a Sunni, Saddam Hussein, seen by Gulf Arab states as a buffer against Iran. Now a worsening of Iran-Saudi rivalry could have broad consequences.
INFLUENCE
Not only are the two competitors openly tussling for influence in Arab countries, but Saudi Arabia is worried that Washington has realigned with Tehran at Arab expense by backing a deal settling Iran’s long-standing nuclear dispute.
Alive to what he sees as a U.S.-Iran detente, Saudi Arabia’s new monarch, King Salman, is pushing for Sunni Muslim Middle East countries to set aside differences over political Islam and focus on what it sees as the more urgent threat from Tehran.
The diplomatic heft that Riyadh employs in such efforts is rooted in its prestigious role as custodian of Islam’s holiest places.
Iranian commentator Hazrati said Riyadh appeared to believe that if it accepted blame for the disaster it would be seen as weakness and lead to calls for the kingdom to give up its custodianship to an international body.
Saudi Arabia’s critics in the past urged Riyadh to transfer management of the haj and holy places to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the world’s largest Muslim body.
OIC Secretary-General Iyad Ameen Madani, a Saudi cleric and former haj minister, issued a statement after the disaster expressing confidence in Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the event.
In a statement, he expressed the hope that “no party would seek to take advantage of the pilgrimage and pilgrims … in a controversial context that would divide rather than unite”.
