JEDDAH: Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir has accused the Iranian regime of politicizing the Haj pilgrimage in order to divert attention from its own internal problems.
He said that though Saudi Arabia had expressed its readiness to welcome Iranian pilgrims, Tehran chose instead to complicate the matter by politicizing the pilgrimage.
Speaking to reporters at the Saudi Embassy in London, he said that the latest comments by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei concerning Haj were a clear attempt to shift the Iranian peoples attention from their governments continuous failures and its decision to prevent Iranians from performing the holy pilgrimage.
Al-Jubeir stressed that the Kingdom was keen on welcoming pilgrims from around the world, but that the Iranian government had refused to cooperate with travel and visa arrangements.
Such arrangements were coordinated between the Kingdom and all other countries to guarantee a safe Haj for more than three million Muslims each year, he said.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries condemned Khamenei for his incendiary statements against Saudi Arabia.
The GCC states termed Khameneis accusations false and outrageous which should not come from any Muslim and certainly not from a leader of a so-called Islamic state.
GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani said Khameneis statement was a desperate attempt to politicize the great Islamic ritual that gathers Muslims from all over the world in the land of the Two Holy Mosques.
The Muslim world is fully aware of the great efforts and tireless endeavors exerted by Saudi Arabia, its leadership, government and people in order to organize Haj rituals, facilitate the hosting of pilgrims and ensure their safety, he said.
He stressed that the GCC countries rejected the unjust media campaign and the successive statements of senior Iranian officials against Saudi Arabia and the GCC states.
Such accusations and allegations contradict completely the values and principles of Islam which call for affinity, love and brotherhood and are incompatible with the principles of neighborly policy and do not help to build a constructive relationship between Islamic countries, he said.
In Cairo, meanwhile, the Council of Senior Scholars of Al-Azhar University has totally rejected calls from Iran to internationalize the management of the Two Holy Mosques.
The council condemned the use of religion and sectarian strife to achieve political goals which, it said, opens a new door for sedition.
Saudi Arabia is the sole country responsible for organizing Haj and its affairs without any foreign interference whatsoever, the council said in a statement.
Egyptian scholars have saluted the spirit of giving and the strenuous efforts by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and the Saudi people which is reflected in caring for the Two Holy Mosques, serving the guests of Allah and facilitating their pilgrimage.
It is the duty of everyone to keep matters of worship and religion from sectarian and political differences because the politicization of religion will bring no good to our nation, the statement said.
In Islamabad also, scholars and heads of Islamic associations strongly condemned Khamenei.
The Pakistani scholars said the accusations were an attempt by Iran to politicize Haj, and use it as a pretext to settle political differences.
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