Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, the highest religious authority in the country, said in remarks published on Wednesday that the leaders of regional rival Iran were not Muslims and saw Sunni Muslims as their enemy. This story is from September 7, 2016

the annual haj pilgrimage

logistics fell apart

war of words

'Evil' Saudi royals don't deserve to manage holy sites

criticised Saudi Arabia

crush last year

Sons of "magus"

"Bigotry"

DUBAI: The bitter war of words between Iran and Saudi Arabia intensified on Wednesday ahead offrom which Iranians have been excluded for the first time in decades.Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasted the "incompetence" of the Saudi royal family as he met with the families of victims of a deadly stampede during last year's haj Iranians have been blocked from the event after talks on safety andin May.Theon the eve of the mass pilgrimage will deepen a long-running rift between the Sunni kingdom and the Shia revolutionary power. "We have to understand that they are not Muslims ... Their main enemies are the followers of Sunnah (Sunnis)," Al al-Sheikh was quoted as saying, remarks republished by the Arab News.He described Iranian leaders as sons of "magus", a reference to Zoroastrianism, the dominant belief in Persia until the Muslim Arab invasion of the region that is now Iran 13 centuries ago.Al al-Sheikh's remarks drew an acerbic retort from Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who said they were evidence of bigotry among Saudi leaders.
The top cleric of Saudi Arabia says Iranians "are not Muslims."