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MAKKAH, Saudi Arabia: Being in Makkah has been nothing short of blissful for Hassan Qadiri, where participating in the festivities of the Haj pilgrimage is a welcome relief after weeks of devastating war back home in Iran.
Qadiri and his family took cover as intense Israeli and American bombing raids targeted his native city of Isfahan in central Iran until an April ceasefire began. “We hear the call to prayer every day, not explosions here,” Qadiri told AFP.
“I´m very happy.” Like many Iranians at this year´s Haj, Qadiri and his family are staying in a hotel near the Grand Mosque under the protection of Saudi security personnel, who actively prevent others from approaching the grounds to meet or speak with the pilgrims.
The protocol is not provided to other visiting pilgrims. “The Saudi treatment of us is good and everything is fine,” Qadiri added. His wife, who did not give her name and wore a black abaya with a turquoise vest that read “Isfahan”, agreed.
“Being here makes the war easier for us to bear,” she added. Throughout the holy city, Iranian flags can be seen printed on white pilgrims´ garments, cloaks, bags and buses. According to Iran´s IRNA state news agency, due to the “wartime situation” just over 30,000 Iranian pilgrims out of an expected 86,700 made the journey to Saudi Arabia for Haj.
This year, Saudi authorities are working to prevent the war from affecting the environment at the Haj. Saudi Arabia “has been very keen to de-politicise Haj in every manner whether it is about political activities or sloganeering during the pilgrimage,” said Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy at the University of Birmingham in Britain.
Inside one hotel hosting Iranian pilgrims posters lined the walls written in Arabic and English stating: “Raising flags and saying religious or political slogans is prohibited,” echoing an earlier warning broadcast by the interior ministry.
Members of the official Iranian delegation declined to speak with AFP reporters. “It is a very beautiful feeling to be here for the Haj,” Ali Reza told AFP while enjoying a cigarette with a friend near his hotel. The sentiment was echoed by Pardis, a woman in her forties from Tehran whose relative was killed by an air strike. “I feel peace and safety here,” she said.
