If Saudi Arabia is to host the annual hajj, it must ensure pilgrims’ safety.
It says much about the animosity between Iran and Saudi Arabia that a calamity involving the deaths of hundreds of pilgrims to Mecca should plunge relations between the two countries into even greater crisis. Rather than unite in grief at the tragedy that has befallen the families of those crushed to death on the hajj last week, the leaders have exchanged blame, threats and insults.
Tehran says the Saudis are culpable for failing to organise the annual gathering in a way that such disasters can be averted. Certainly it is not the first – or even the worst – catastrophe of this sort. The anger of the bereaved, many of whom are Iranian, is easy to understand since the lessons of the past appear not to have been learned or acted upon.
But there is also a suspicion that, as the Saudis claim, the Iranian government is using this opportunity to continue its long-standing feud with the Saudi royal house. Tehran has demanded an international investigation into the circumstances leading to the stampede. One unsubstantiated rumour claims that the pilgrims were diverted from a safe route in order to free the passage of members of the royal family, a claim that has been denied but which will be hard to suppress.
There is an element of mischief-making in Iranian posturing, especially their call for a trial of the royal family for its “crimes”, but they do have a point. If Saudi Arabia, as the land of the two holy mosques, is to host the annual hajj, it must ensure the safety and security of those who attend. An independent inquiry conducted by representatives of other Muslim nations would be a small gesture of recognition by the Saudis of the magnitude of the tragedy that has occurred.
