Ali Al-Rubai

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

 

BAHA — Iran and its media do not leave any opportunity to malign and ridicule Arabs, writers and intelligentsia have claimed. Historically, Iran has never been an ally or a friend of the Arabs and it has always resorted to use its propaganda machine against Arabs to serve its own interests, they said.



Lebanese writer, Jihad Fadil, said that Iranians have never been satisfied with, or peaceful toward, Islam and Arabs. A cursory glance at the historical and modern Persian literature leads one to conclude that they focus their hatred toward Arabs specifically, because in their eyes Islam relates to Arabs. “Haj to them is performed in areas other than Makkah and the holy sites. They have their own rituals and systems. It is weird that they actually care about Haj and pilgrims. In Persian literature, they actually describe Arabs as blood-thirsty, cruel and savages,” said Fadil.

 

Political science professor at Qatar University, Mohammed Al-Musfir, said Iran has got blood on its hands by attacking its neighboring Arab countries with hostile speeches and actions. Iran occupies parts of the United Arab Emirates islands, supports sectarian militia in Iraq, and promotes sectarianism in general. The country seems to always interfere in Yemen and Bahrain, and have always supported the Syrian regime against the poor Syrian nation and incited hatred against the Kingdom.



Al-Musfir said that all Iranian accusations against Saudi Arabia for the Mina stampede illustrates the deep hatred that country has against Arabs. He noted that Iran and its spokesmen disclaim all the Kingdom’s good efforts, especially when something wrong happens. “If they were objective, they would have talked about the 80 years of service the Kingdom has been providing to pilgrims and expansions of the Two Holy Mosques to increase their capacity,” he said.



Al-Musfir said he wonders why would anyone put so much effort into politicizing Haj to promote ideologies and create chaos? He argued that Iran continues to be involved in every chaos, destruction and wrongdoing in the Arab world. He expressed his disappointment that Iran is protective of Haj and holy sites, while collaborating with Israel and ignoring all the injustice being done at the Al-Aqsa mosque. He said this proves Iran’s bias and insincerity.



Strategic expert, Amor Al-Amri, said he believes that the Iranian accusations should be expected in the light of its political hatred. “Iran got used to taking advantage of any accident and turning into a political goal to attack the Kingdom and its policies,” said Al-Amri. He said he understands Iran’s concern for its citizens’ safety, especially the ones who were affected by the stampede incident, but he wonders about Iran’s negligence in diplomatic channels when discussing any case related to the Kingdom.



Former member of the Bureau of Investigation and Public Persecution, Ibrahim Al-Abadi, said that Iran and its allies crossed many lines by attacking and judging others. He adds that the historically deep hatred Iran has toward the Kingdom makes its opinions biased and subjective. He hopes that investigations reveal the truth about the incident to counter everything that Iran has been falsely propagating about the Kingdom.