RIYADH, AP, Sept. 6, 2016 —Saudi Arabia’s top cleric intensified the kingdom’s rhetoric against Iran, saying in comments published on Tuesday that Tehran’s leaders are “not Muslims” in response to rancorous remarks from Iran’s supreme leader.
The remarks by Grand Mufti Abdulaziz Al Sheikh came a day after Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Saudi authorities of killing Muslims injured during last year’s crush of crowds at the hajj pilgrimage.
Their confrontational comments mark a sharp escalation in the countries’ face-off as their spat plays out across the region.
Mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia and majority Shiite Iran back opposite sides of the wars in Syria and Yemen, and support opposing political groups in Iraq, Bahrain and Lebanon.
In comments to the Makkah newspaper, the top Saudi cleric was quoted as saying that Khamenei’s remarks are “not surprising
Negotiations between the two countries over hajj security measures also collapsed earlier this year, prompting Iran to declare it wouldn’t be sending any of its citizens to this year’s pilgrimage, which begins this weekend.