News / Interviews

Saudi Hajj stance on Iran, outrageous: Analyst

Sunday, 29 May 2016 1:50 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 29 May 2016 1:50 PM ]

Muslim pilgrims circle Islam’s holiest site, the Ka’aba, at the Grand Mosque, in the Saudi holy city of Mecca, September 20, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

Press TV has interviewed Massoud Shadjareh, a member of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, about Iran saying it will not take part in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca because of "obstacles" created by Saudi Arabia.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: When Iran and Saudi Arabia severed ties, one of the first questions that came to mind was how would this affect the Hajj, and now, as anticipated, the Saudis have gone on and politicized the issue of the Hajj pilgrimage. Talk to us more, sir.

Shadjareh: Well, absolutely. I think it was very clear that the Saudis do not just want to sort of sever diplomatic relationship with Iran but also want to use whatever is in their power to discriminate against the Iranian nation, and Hajj was one of the tools which they fit to use and it really is outrageous.

Hajj and indeed Mecca does not belong to any nation, it belongs to Islamic world and the Muslims as a whole and really it is not a national sort of thing and it is global, it belongs to the Muslim Ummah and Muslims should not be stopped from performing what is actually compulsory for them, and to do so, they are really going not only against the international relationship and international law but they are really going against the whole essence of Islam and Islamic principles and denying believers in performing what is compulsory for them.

And from that point of view, really it is outrageous, from the Islamic point of view, for a country who claims to be safeguard and champion of Islam to behave in this way.

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