Unfortunate KSA-Iran row: edit in Pakistan Observer, Sept 7, 2016

AFTER Iranians were unable to make it to Saudi Arabia for annual pilgrimage due to disagreement on several issues between the two countries, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei has issued a harsh statement against the Kingdom and its leadership. He has also repeated demand of Tehran for joint management of Hajj on the plea that Saudis were not capable of managing affairs leading to tragedies as we witnessed last year.
Muslim world is passing through a very delicate phase of its existence as apart from internal problems in many countries, some foreign powers are also trying hard to destabilize the entire Muslim Ummah. Latest was the attempt to deny Turkey of its steady march on the path of economic development through failed coup, which is believed to have some connections abroad. There are crises in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen requiring complete unity and solidarity among Muslims states to effectively counter designs of enemies of Islam. In this backdrop, Saudi Arabia and Iran should have resolved their differences over performance of Hajj by Iranian pilgrims. There are reasons to believe that political and diplomatic ties between the two countries are to be blamed for inability of Iranian pilgrims to perform Hajj this year and not security or logistic arrangements as is being claimed. The blame game must come to an end and the two countries should talk to each other for sorting out their problems. As for management of the holy sites is concerned, Saudis have so far been handling them superbly and created enormous infrastructure and facilities for the benefit of the pilgrims. As for security and accidents, these can be improved further but this is possible only if all Muslim countries extend a helping hand to the Kingdom for the purpose.http://pakobserver.net/unfortunate-ksa-iran-row/