TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused Saudi authorities of “bigoted extremism” late Tuesday in an increasingly bitter war of words over Iran's exclusion from this year's Haj.

Javad Zarif was responding to a claim by Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric, Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, that Iranians were "not Muslims".

"Indeed, no resemblance between Islam of Iranians and most Muslims, and [the] bigoted extremism that Wahhabi top cleric and Saudi terror masters preach," Zarif tweeted.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was due to meet later on Wednesday with the families of some of the more than 400 Iranian victims of a stampede that killed nearly 2,300 pilgrims at last year's Haj.

He published a scathing open letter on Monday, accusing the Saudis of failing to protect pilgrims.

"The hesitation and failure to rescue the half-dead and injured people... is also obvious and incontrovertible. They murdered them," he wrote.

For the first time in almost three decades, Iranians have been blocked from the annual pilgrimage to Islam's holiest places in Saudi Arabia after the regional rivals failed to agree on safety and logistical issues.

That has sparked acrimonious exchanges ahead of the start of the Haj on Saturday.

Khamenei described the Saudi royal family as "small and puny Satans who tremble for fear of jeopardising the interests of the Great Satan (the United States)”, and called on the Muslim world to end its management of the Haj.

The grand mufti responded on Tuesday, telling the Makkah daily: "We must understand these are not Muslims, they are children of Magi and their hostility towards Muslims is an old one."

"Magi" was a reference to the Zoroastrian religion that was prevalent in Iran before Islam, and is sometimes used as an insult against Iranians.

Iran and Saudi Arabia often vie for regional dominance, backing rival sides in conflicts from Syria to Yemen.

Opinion

Editorial

Smog hazard
Updated 05 Nov, 2024

Smog hazard

The catastrophe unfolding in Lahore is a product of authorities’ repeated failure to recognise environmental impact of rapid urbanisation.
Monetary policy
05 Nov, 2024

Monetary policy

IN an aggressive move, the State Bank on Monday reduced its key policy rate by a hefty 250bps to 15pc. This is the...
Cultural power
05 Nov, 2024

Cultural power

AS vital modes of communication, art and culture have the power to overcome social and international barriers....
Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.