Iran Foreign Relations Saudi Arabia

The heads of more than 40 Muslim nations have consulted with Saudi Arabia and expressed approval of its conduct last week when Iranian extremists apparently sparked a riot in the holy city of Mecca that left more than 400 dead and 600 injured, the Saudi ambassador to the United States said Thursday. At the same time, Secretary of State George P.

Tehran denied it is harboring the alleged mastermind of last year's bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. servicemen, saying such reports were designed to sabotage Saudi-Iranian relations. A report in the U.S. paper Newsday said American and Canadian intelligence officials believe a Saudi Shiite who planned the June 25 bombing near Dhahran is being protected by the Iranians--a sign Iran might have had a role in the attack. U.S.

The Saudi Arabian government reported Saturday that 402 people were killed during clashes touched off by Iranian pilgrims in Mecca, where more than 2 million Muslims were making the solemn annual trek to the holiest shrines of Islam. An official statement read on television said that of the total killed in Friday's fighting, 275 were Iranians, 85 were Saudi citizens and security men and 42 were pilgrims of other nationalities. More than 600 were wounded, the statement said.

From Tehran, Mashhad, Esfahan and other Iranian cities, planeloads of Muslim pilgrims have begun arriving in Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj to Mecca, marking a political turnaround in the Persian Gulf far more surprising than Iraq's defeat in the "Mother of All Battles." Tehran Radio reported more than 7,000 pilgrims had landed at the enormous hajj terminal in Jidda's airport at the first of the week. Some have already left for Islam's holy shrines. More are on their way.

Tehran denied it is harboring the alleged mastermind of last year's bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. servicemen, saying such reports were designed to sabotage Saudi-Iranian relations. A report in the U.S. paper Newsday said American and Canadian intelligence officials believe a Saudi Shiite who planned the June 25 bombing near Dhahran is being protected by the Iranians--a sign Iran might have had a role in the attack. U.S.

Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani sent messages Monday to 98 world leaders thanking them for helping the victims of last month's earthquake--but he left out the United States. The U.S. government provided $760,000 in aid for the earthquake survivors, according to the State Department, with private American groups sending $4 million. Also missing from the list were Saudi Arabia and Iraq, both of which sent aid.

The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia met in New York to discuss resuming diplomatic ties after a 2 1/2-year rift, Iran said Monday. The move could further isolate Iraq in the Persian Gulf crisis. Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency, monitored in Cyprus, said the meeting between Iran's Ali Akbar Velayati and Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud al Faisal took place Sunday at United Nations headquarters.

Anti-American marchers swept through Tehran and other cities Friday in the first major Iranian demonstrations of the Persian Gulf crisis. Marking the Muslim holy day, pro-Iraqi rhetoric and threats against Western powers heightened the war of words in several other Middle East capitals. Further protests are expected Monday, the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed.

Iran and Saudi Arabia said Wednesday they will restore diplomatic relations next week, a move likely to raise Tehran's standing in the Persian Gulf and promote regional security. Simultaneous announcements in Riyadh and Tehran said that ties between the two competing Muslim powers will be re-established Tuesday. The agreement apparently was hammered out during a meeting Monday in Oman.

A senior Iranian official confirmed Wednesday that no Iranians will go to Mecca for next month's Muslim Haj pilgrimage because they have been barred by Saudi Arabia. Mehdi Karrubi, leader of Iran's pilgrims, called the Saudi government corrupt. Last July, 402 people were killed in riots in Mecca.

The Iranian government declared its return to the world economic community Monday, publicly acknowledging its need for foreign investment and declaring its intention to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to seek stable oil prices. More than 300 delegates to the Conference on Oil and Gas in the 1990s: Prospects for Cooperation--the first international conference held in Iran since the Islamic revolution of 1979--heard a strong message from President Hashemi Rafsanjani and his senior Cabinet officials.

Four Shiite Muslims who had been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia in connection with a 1989 bombing in Mecca have been unexpectedly released by Saudi authorities in a dramatic illustration of changing political relationships in the Persian Gulf.

Saudi Arabia's King Fahd has declared an informal media truce for the holy month of Ramadan, making it a little tougher--but not much--to determine who's on the royal blacklist in Riyadh. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is No. 1, of course. He went down blazing under Operation Desert Storm, ridiculing Fahd, his ruling neighbor, as an Arab Hessian, a political dwarf unfit to be steward of Islam's holiest places.

Iran and Saudi Arabia said Wednesday they will restore diplomatic relations next week, a move likely to raise Tehran's standing in the Persian Gulf and promote regional security. Simultaneous announcements in Riyadh and Tehran said that ties between the two competing Muslim powers will be re-established Tuesday. The agreement apparently was hammered out during a meeting Monday in Oman.

Rival Muslim nations Saudi Arabia and Iran are settling a bitter dispute over pilgrimages to Mecca and may soon renew diplomatic relations that were severed three years ago after riots left hundreds of Iranian pilgrims dead, officials said Monday. A joint statement issued by the two countries in the neighboring Persian Gulf state of Oman said agreement has been reached over annual treks to the western Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest sites.

The official newspaper in Tehran reported Sunday that the war may force Iran and other Muslim nations to BOYCOTT THE HOLIEST OF ISLAMIC RITES, the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, as a protest against U.S.-led forces operating out of Saudi territory. "Muslims may stage an all-out ban on hajj ceremonies in protest against the House of Saud inviting infidel troops to its sacred land," declared the newspaper. The rite is in June this year.

The government of Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday that it is breaking diplomatic relations with Iran and asked Iranian Embassy officials to leave the country within a week. The announcement, read on state-run television, cited several reasons for the break, including a riot by Iranians during the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca last year.

Iran will not adhere to limits set by Saudi Arabia on the number of people it sends on the annual Haj pilgrimage to the holy Muslim city of Mecca, the official IRNA news agency reported. It quoted Mehdi Karrubi, the personal representative of Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as saying that Iran plans to send 150,000 pilgrims to Mecca this year. Iran's quota is about 50,000.

The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia met in New York to discuss resuming diplomatic ties after a 2 1/2-year rift, Iran said Monday. The move could further isolate Iraq in the Persian Gulf crisis. Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency, monitored in Cyprus, said the meeting between Iran's Ali Akbar Velayati and Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud al Faisal took place Sunday at United Nations headquarters.

Anti-American marchers swept through Tehran and other cities Friday in the first major Iranian demonstrations of the Persian Gulf crisis. Marking the Muslim holy day, pro-Iraqi rhetoric and threats against Western powers heightened the war of words in several other Middle East capitals. Further protests are expected Monday, the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed.