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The 1987 Mecca massacre, also known as the 1987 Hajj massacre, 1987 Mecca incident, 1987 Mecca Riot, 1987 Hajj demonstration, occurred on July 31, 1987. It arose from escalating tensions between Shia Iran and Wahabbi Saudi Arabia. The demonstrations by Iranian and non-Iranian Shia pilgrims started peacefully , but escalated into a violent confrontation when the Saudi police attacked the unarmed protesters. Subsequently, Saudi troops shot and killed some 400 Shia pilgrims, including 275 Iranian pilgrims. The Saudis originally claimed that the Iranian pilgrims had died in the stampede that followed police intervention, but bullet wounds in the victims' bodies proved the Saudis had used firearms. .

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.

Hostility of Saudi Arabia toward Iranians has a long history. In 1981, King Khalid of Saudi Arabia wrote a letter to Saddam Hussein saying "crush these stupid Iranians" as Saddam pushed on with the invasion of Iranian territory. It has often been claimed that Iraq recruited non-Iraqi Arabs (including Saudis) during the war to balance the far superior number of Iranian forces on the ground.

The history of hostility between Wahhabis and Shiites dates several decades. In 1943, an Iranian pilgrim was beheaded for allegedly defiling the Masjid al-Haram (Great Mosque). There was also a clash in 1981 in Mecca and Medina between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi police. Saudi Wahabis believed that the Shiites would "pollute the Great Mosque".

Subsequently, King Khalid of Saudi Arabia in a letter to Ruhollah Khomeini, accused the Iranian pilgrims of blasphemy, claiming they had chanted "God is Great, Khomeini is great", and "God However, , Khalid had in fact distorted the Iranian pilgrims's chant which was one of the well-known Iranian revolutionary slogans, "God is Great, Khomeini is leader." The Arabic-speaking Saudis may have confused the for "leader" (rahbar) with the rhyming Arabic for "great" (akbar).

Prior to the demonstration, the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini had sent a message to the pilgrims urging them to remain peaceful and avoid clashes.

Demonstrations

On Friday July 31, 1987, a demonstration by Iranian pilgrims against the United States and Israel, escalated into a confrontation between demonstrators and Saudi security forces. Subsequently, the police opened fire against the demonstrators and killed more than 400 pilgrims. The Saudi authorities reported 402 dead (275 Iranians, 85 Saudis, and 42 pilgrims from other countries) and 649 wounded (303 Iranians, 145 Saudis and 201 other nationals).

Aftermath

On August 1, 1986, a spontaneous demonstration by enraged Iranians ended with attacks on the Kuwaiti and Saudi embassies in Tehran. On the same day, the Iranian leader Khomeini called on Saudis to overthrow the House of Saud to avenge the pilgrims' deaths. In a Washington news conference, the Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan claimed that "not one bullet was fired," blaming the violence on the Iranian pilgrims who he accused of "brandishing knives, clubs and broken glass drawn from beneath their cloaks." According to Dr. Robert O. Freedman, Professor of Political Science at Baltimore Hebrew University: "Later on, however, Iranian officials displayed the bullet wounds in the victims' bodies, which proved that the Saudis had indeed used firearms." Robin Wright also reports that "Many of the Iranian bodies, shown to American and European reporters immediately upon their return to Tehran, had bullet punctures"

Both sides took additional measures to bolster their view on the issue. Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran and reduced the number of permitted Iranian pilgrims to 45,000, down from 150,000 in earlier years. Iran boycotted the Hajj for three years, from 1988 to 1990.

In 1991, Iran and Saudi Arabia renewed diplomatic relations after coming to an agreement to allow Iranian pilgrims to perform the Hajj once more. The total number of pilgrims was set at 115,000, and the demonstrations were allowed to be held, but only in one specific location granted by the Saudis. Under this agreement, Iranian pilgrims continued their annual demonstration in the 1990s and 2000s with few or no incidents. They limited their rally to within the confines of their compound in Mecca.

See also

• Shi'a–Sunni relations
• List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

References & notes

1. The longest war: the Iran-Iraq military conflict by Dilip Hiro, Page 225
2. From Beirut to Jerusalem Thomas L. Friedman - 1990 - 541 pages - Snippet view
3. The Middle East from the Iran-Contra affair to the Intifada By Robert Owen Freedman, p156
6. See the article میراث پان عربیسم in the journal مجله سیاسی-اقتصادی No. 209-210, p.12
7. ^ Religious radicalism and politics in the Middle East by Emmanuel Sivan, Menachem Friedman, p181
8. ^ Religious radicalism and politics in the Middle East by Emmanuel Sivan, Menachem Friedman, p184
9. "A spontaneous demonstration in Tehran on 1 August ended in attacks on the Saudi and Kuwaiti embassies." The longest war: the Iran-Iraq military conflict, page 225
10. "Khomeini called for the overthrow of the Saudi royal family to avenge the pilgrims' deaths" Saudi Arabia A Country Study, page 271
11. http://articles.latimes.com/1987-08-07/news/mn-1141_1_saudi-arabia
12. The Middle East from the Iran-Contra affair to the Intifada By Robert Owen Freedman, p156
13. In the Name of God: The Khomeini Decade by Robin Wright, p166
14. "The Three-Year Boycott" Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival: The Politics of Ideas in the Middle East
15. An Understanding Renewed? Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival: The Politics of Ideas in the Middle East

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

External links

• Carnage in Mecca
• Khomeini’s Messengers in Mecca

• 1987 riots
• History of Iran
• Mecca
• Riots in Saudi Arabia
• 1987 in Saudi Arabia
• Hajj
• Protests in Saudi Arabia
• Massacres committed by countries