1987 Mecca incident

1987 Mecca incident
Part of Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict
Memorial and Tombs of Victims in Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra.
Date31 July 1987 (1987-07-31)
Location
Mecca, Saudi Arabia

21°26′7.18″N 39°49′44.68″E / 21.4353278°N 39.8290778°E / 21.4353278; 39.8290778
Caused byShi'a–Sunni tensions
Parties
Shia pilgrims
Saudi Arabian security forces
Casualties
Death(s)Disputed; between 400 - 402
InjuriesDisputed; estimated 649 - 2,000

On 31 July 1987, during the Hajj (Arabic for pilgrimage) in Mecca, a clash between Shia pilgrim demonstrators and the Saudi Arabian security forces resulted in the death of more than 400 people.[1] The event has been variously described as a "riot" or a "massacre". It developed from increasing tensions between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Since 1981, Iranian pilgrims have held a political demonstration against Israel and the United States every year at Hajj,[2][3] but in 1987, a cordon of Saudi police and the Saudi Arabian National Guard sealed part of the planned[4] demonstration route, resulting in a confrontation between them and the pilgrims. This escalated into a violent clash, followed by a deadly stampede.[5][6] [7]

How many pilgrims died and how they died are both disputed. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia blame each other for the loss of life.[8] Estimates of fatalities range from 400 with thousands more injured (Iranian government);[9] 402, of which 275 were Iranian pilgrims, 85 Saudi police, and 42 pilgrims from other countries (Saudi government);[8] and more than 400 dead (New York Times).[3] Saudis claim the pilgrims were armed and died in a stampede.[10] Iranians claim many were killed by Saudi gunfire.[11]

After the incident, Iranians attacked the Saudi, Kuwaiti and French Embassies, abducting four Saudis from the embassy.[3]

  1. ^ "Timeline of tragedies during hajj pilgrimage in Mecca". The Guardian. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  2. ^ Sivan, Emmanuel; Friedman, Menachem (29 August 1990). Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East. SUNY Press. p. 183.
  3. ^ a b c Kifner, John (2 August 1987). "400 Die As Iranian Marchers Battle Saudi Police in Mecca; Embassies Smashed in Teheran – Gulf Tensions Rise – Angry Crowds Rampage at the Saudi, Kuwaiti and French Offices". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  4. ^ "Hajj: Major incidents". aljazeera. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ReligiousRadicalism was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Sivan and Friedman, Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East, p.190
  7. ^ Barkan, Elazar; Barkey, Karen (11 November 2014). Choreographies of Shared Sacred Sites: Religion, Politics, and Conflict. Columbia University Press. p. 14. ISBN 9780231538060.
  8. ^ a b Kramer, Martin S. (30 September 1996), "Khomeini's Messengers in Mecca", Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival, Transaction Publishers, ISBN 978-1560002727
  9. ^ Sivan and Friedman, Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East, p. 190
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference latimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wright-166 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).