1987 massacre of Iranian pilgrims

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The 1987 massacre of Iranian pilgrims occurred on July 31, 1987. It arose from escalating tensions between Iran on one hand and Saudi Arabia and the United States on the other hand.

Contents

[edit] History

For years, Iranian pilgrims had tried to stage peaceful demonstrations so called "Distancing Ourselves from Mushrikīn" (برائت از مشرکين) in the Muslim holy city of Mecca during the hajj.[1]

Previous clashes had occurred in 1981 in Mecca and Medina between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi police. The Saudi monarch at the time, Khalid, sent a letter of protest to Khomeini, asking that Khomeini urge his followers to show restraint but strongly hinting that the Great Mosque had been defiled by blasphemous Iranian pilgrims. According to Khalid, Iranian pilgrims in the Great Mosque had performed their ritual circumambulations while chanting "God is great, Khomeini is great", and "God is one, Khomeini is one," which, in his view, constituted an excessive veneration of their Imam, regarded by many Muslims as a form of polytheism. All this had aroused the "dissatisfaction and disgust" of other pilgrims, wrote Khalid to Khomeini. In fact, Khalid's letter distorted well-known Iranian revolutionary slogans.[2] Iranian pilgrims had actually chanted "God is great, Khomeini is leader." The Saudis had confused the Persian word for "leader" (rahbar) with the rhyming Arabic for "great" (akbar). The pilgrims' Arabic chant declared that "God is one, Khomeini is leader." Here, the Saudis had confused the Arabic for "one" (wāhid) with the rhyming Arabic for "leader" (qā'id). It was this familiar but disguised charge of Shiite defilement which the Saudis sought to level at Iran's pilgrims.

In 1986, it appeared that an understanding had been reached between the two governments to keep the peace during the pilgrimage. Later, that year, however, a group of one hundred Iranian pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia with a large quantity of explosives and were arrested by the Saudi authorities on arrival. This incident, though embarrassing to the Iranian leadership, may have been the result of a power struggle between them and more radical elements in the Iranian governnment.

In 1987, prior to the pilgrimage, a high-ranking Iranian official declared in a speech that that year "a mere march or demonstration will not suffice. Iran should not simply gather a certain number of people who might support the views of the Islamic republic." Instead he demanded that Khomeini's pilgrimage representatives be allowed to enter the Grand Mosque in Mecca for one night and hold a referendum among all Muslim pilgrims regarding Kuwait's decision to have its oil tankers escorted by foreign forces. "All we ask," he said, "is that the Saudi government not oppose this, nor send its guards to the Great Mosque. Let us see what happens. We will try it for one year."

Since the 1987 clashes, Iranian pilgrims have continued their annual demonstration, but confined their rally to within the confines of their compound in Mecca.

[edit] Riots

On Friday July 31, 1987, a demonstration by Iranian pilgrims against the "enemies of Islam" (including the U.S. and Israel), escalated to fights between demonstrators and Saudi security forces. The police opened fire against the demonstrators and that led to a stampede of the pilgrims. Saudi authorities reported 402 dead (275 Iranians, 85 Saudis including policemen, and 45 pilgrims from other countries) and 649 wounded (303 Iranians, 145 Saudis and 201 other nationals)[3].

Prior the demonstration, Khomeini sent a message to the pilgrims and included the customary plea that they avoid clashes, insults and disputes, and warned against those intent on disruption who might embark on spontaneous moves.[4]

Immediately after the riot, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for Muslims to avenge the pilgrims' deaths by overthrowing the Saudi royal family. The Saudi government blamed the riot on the Iranian pilgrims and claimed it had been part of a plot to destabilize their rule.

When news of the riot and the casualties reached Iran the following day, mobs attacked the Kuwaiti and Saudi embassies in Tehran, the two countries that were allied with Iraq in its war against Iran.[1] The following day, over a million Iranians gathered in Tehran calling for the overthrow of the regime in Saudi Arabia.

[edit] See also

[edit] References & notes

  1. ^ BBCPersian.com
  2. ^ Khomeini's Messengers in Mecca (Hajj) by Martin Kramer
  3. ^ K. McLachlan, Iran and the Continuing Crisis in the Persian Gulf. GeoJournal, Vol.28, Issue 3, Nov. 1992, p.359
  4. ^ Khomeini's Messengers in Mecca (Hajj) by Martin Kramer
  1. ^  "Iranian Official Urge 'Uprooting' of Saudi Royalty", The New York Times, August 3, 1987
  2. ^  "Gulf Tensions Rise", The New York Times, August 2, 1987

[edit] External links