Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman hit back at Bahraini foreign minister for accusing Iran of politicizing the hajj pilgrimage, advising the Arab diplomat to stop adopting foreign-dictated policies and try to settle his own country’s internal conflicts instead.
Bahram Qasemi also said on Thursday Bahrain’s Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa should give up his unilateral attitude and stop taking “repetitive stances” that are dictated by outsiders who are on the wrong track in the region, referring to Saudi Arabia.
Qasemi also said Bahrain needs to deal with its own internal problems and refrain from commenting on the major Muslim event without considering the death of innocent pilgrims in last year’s hajj in Saudi Arabia, Tasnim News Agency reported.
The spokesman called on Khalifa to avoid creating rifts in the Muslim community.
Addressing the Arab League Council in Cairo on Thursday, the top Bahraini diplomat accused Iran of trying to politicize hajj.
Over 460 Iranians were among the 4,700 pilgrims who died on September 24, 2015, in a crush in Mina, near Mecca, during the hajj pilgrimage.
Iran says the disaster indicates the incompetence of the Saudi government in managing the annual pilgrimage.
