The Mecca incident

The 1987 Mecca incident refers to the massacre of hajj pilgrims in Mecca by Saudi Arabian forces. The massacre took place on days of hajj al-tamattu’ in 1987 during the demonstrations known as “Dissociation from the Polytheists.” According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in this event 325 Iranians, mostly women, were killed. Moreover, according to a statement by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Interior, forty five pilgrims from other countries were also killed. The event led to a strong reaction by Iranian officials, including Imam Khomeini, and in its consequence, political ties between the two countries were severed and the dispatching of Iranian hajj pilgrims to Arabia was halted.

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