In his second term inauguration, Hassan Rouhani spoke repeatedly about dialogue. But as usual, he tried so hard to make the Iranian regime look good, speaking of goodwill. In reality, however, hate is what Iran has been showing its neighbours in the Gulf.
Few days before Rouhani’s speech, the Iranian Supreme Leader was openly inciting Iranian pilgrims to the Holy Land in Saudi Arabia for what he called a position statement on the American presence in the region.
Iran is trying to politicize the pilgrimage and to conduct Tabaraa demonstations. These practices have nothing to do with religious and spiritual rites. This political heresy created by the mullahs truly disrupts the pilgrimage season.
Iranian pilgrims’ delegations are filled with intelligence and IRG agents. Tehran sees in the pilgrimage season a politically exploitable opportunity. Khamenei’s orders and his explicit call for a political position during the Hajj should not be overlooked. Khamenei considered that Hajj is the most appropriate place to give opinions, take positions as well as an opportunity to announce the stand on the topics that are subject of agreement by the Ummah.
Khamenei also linked the pilgrimage season to the recent tension in Jerusalem. He said no place is better than the house of God, Mecca, Medina, Mount Arafat and Mina, to take a stance in favour of the Palestinian cause. Mr. Khamenei and his circle boast their ability to turn the land of their enemies into hell using a rocket arsenal. They do know where Jerusalem is, so why talk about it in Mecca? The mullahs did not make a single attack on the Israeli army, who closed the gates of Al-Aqsa, so why should we take them seriously?
All they do is spread propaganda to deceive the simpletons. Balances of power with Israel, backed by the US, are not their only concern; they worry about their neighbours too, perhaps even more. The Palestinian cause is just a pretext to cover their expansionist ambitions.
Khamenei is once again venturing into a dangerous and sensitive conflict in relations with Saudi Arabia. Instead of trying to mend these relations, the man pushed the pilgrims to demonstrate during the holy season, which can lead to clashes between the pilgrims or between the Iranian demonstrators and the Saudi forces working to ensure safety and security there.
The mullahs have instigated demonstrations during various pilgrimage seasons. In 1987, the Iranians staged demonstrations and riots against pilgrims, carrying banners and religious slogans. This caused the famous incident that resulted in the death of many because of the violent Iranian demonstrators.
The mullahs are afraid that President Trump’s policies target the Iranian regime. Tehran is blindly following the North Korean model without taking into consideration the strategic differences between the two countries.
They wanted to embarrass the Saudi authorities. To internationalize the management of the pilgrimage season, Tehran encourages pilgrim protests. The mullahs know that the return of Iranian pilgrims this year is sensitive, especially after committing the crime of killing pilgrims about two years ago. Hojatoleslam Ali Qazi-Askar, Khamenei’s representative in the HPO, described the Iranians’ return to the pilgrimage season this year as sensitive.
Last May, Askar accused Iranian media outlets of publishing poisonous content on the Hajj to convince Iranians not to pilgrim. He also said in a television interview that many things on the Internet are not true and people should not believe them. These statements were issued on the backdrop of a disagreement between the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization of Iran and the national security and foreign policy committee of Iran’s Parliament, as some MPs questioned the procedures followed by the HPO.
More evil intentions are what we should expect from Tehran this season. We might see more trouble in a fragile region but only the Iranian regime will reap what it sows.
