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Mecca prepares for annual Hajj with security forces on high alert; ‘not going to be business as usual’

More than a million pilgrims have poured into Saudi Arabia from across the world for the annual Hajj in Mecca, braving a war that has laid bare the Middle East’s modern fault lines.

Among them: tens of thousands of worshipers from Iran and Iraq, countries that have launched barrages of drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia and been struck by the kingdom in return. The latest attack was on May 17, despite the U.S.-Iran cease-fire, when the Saudis intercepted three drones launched from Iraq, where Iran-linked militias operate.

Diplomatic activity aimed at heading off fresh U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran continued Saturday, with mediators meeting Iranian negotiators. Renewed bombing during Hajj and the Eid al-Adha holiday that follows, when Muslims pray together and gather for meals, could be seen as provocative.

The Hajj involves a series of rituals harking back to Islam’s earliest days. It is required once in a lifetime for all Muslims who are physically and financially able. The Saudis exert tremendous effort to organize it, deploying legions of security forces, healthcare workers and guides.

They regulate attendance through an opaque system of visa quotas that roughly grants one spot per 1,000 Muslims in each country, though that can sometimes be negotiated. They have previously blocked people who espouse ideologies they oppose.

Considered one of the five pillars of Islam, the Hajj has taken place almost every year for the past 14 centuries. Despite Saudi bans on political activity, there is always a risk of disturbances among throngs of worshipers.

That risk is heightened this year. The Iran war has scrambled travel across the Middle East and drawn Saudi Arabia into direct conflict with Iran, which disputes its custody of Islam’s two holiest sites in Mecca and Medina. Rivalry between the Saudis and the Iranians has occasionally turned deadly at the Hajj.

“The Saudis got really good at controlling all of this…but it’s not foolproof, and this is the first time that these two countries are in an actual state of war,” said Kamran Bokhari, senior resident fellow at the Middle East Policy Council, a research institute in Washington, D.C. “So there’s always this chance that something could go wrong.”

Saudi Arabia’s media ministry and Iran’s mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The conflict complicates a delicate balance for Saudi Arabia. Control of Islam’s holiest sites generates prestige and revenue, but it also carries an obligation to keep them safe and accessible for all Muslims.

The issue is acute for de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is pursuing an expansion of Mecca’s capacity and has implemented liberalizing social reforms in the kingdom that critics say are inappropriate in the birthplace of Islam.

Mecca, nestled in Saudi Arabia’s western mountains, is within range of Iranian missiles and drones, but it is far from the locus of fighting in the Persian Gulf and generally considered off-limits by the belligerents. The closest attacks have hit Yanbu, a Red Sea port some 200 miles away.

A more likely scenario is disruption on the ground in Mecca, where emotions often run high. The biggest test could come on the second day of Hajj, when pilgrims gather for prayer and repentance at Mount Arafat, a granite hill and surrounding plains at the edge of Mecca.

Iran has previously encouraged its pilgrims to demonstrate against the U.S. and Israel. One of the worst bouts of violence came in 1987, when Saudi security forces confronted demonstrators, resulting in a violent clash followed by a stampede that left at least 400 people dead. Protesters in Tehran then attacked the Saudi embassy. Diplomatic ties broke down, with Riyadh cutting visas for Iranian pilgrims and Iran eventually boycotting Hajj.

In 1989, two bombs went off near Mecca’s Grand Mosque. The Saudis arrested and executed 16 Kuwaitis they said had planted the explosives with the help of Iranian officials.

Tensions erupted again in 2015, when some 2,000 pilgrims were killed in a crush. The largest number of victims came from Iran, which accused the Saudis of botching administration of the pilgrimage. Relations broke down a few months later and the Iranians skipped Hajj in 2016.

At public events this month, Saudi ministers said they were fully prepared but didn’t publicly address the risks posed by the war, which has forced the cancellation of major sporting events and conferences in the Gulf.

Turmoil hasn’t stopped pilgrims from flowing into Saudi Arabia from every corner of the world, even as some had to rebook travel after flights were canceled. A few thousand Americans are taking part, despite a State Department notice discouraging participation this year.

Ibrahem Aabed, a healthcare worker from West Chester, Ohio, said he and his wife are making the journey after losing the opportunity in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and then struggling to get a spot in subsequent years.

“I feel comfortable going no matter what, because we believe in destiny. We believe that God asks us and he wants us to go there,” he said. “The war is not making us change our mind, honestly, not even one percent…No matter what happens, God will take care of it.”

When the war began in February, during the holy month of Ramadan, thousands of Iranians were in Mecca and Medina for a smaller pilgrimage. Saudi authorities evacuated them overland.

It wasn’t clear at the start of the war whether Iranians would be able to attend Hajj, but around 30,000 of them have now arrived. That is less than half the number that have participated in recent years.

“Everybody’s acknowledged that the Iranians should be there [but] it’s not going to be business as usual,” said James Piscatori, emeritus professor of Islam and the Muslim World at the Australian National University in Canberra. “There are worries that it could lead to an uncontrollable security situation…so something which is not what the Iranians want but not their total exclusion either.”

With U.S. bombing paused, Iran has reopened its airspace and resumed flights, allowing some pilgrims to fly directly to Medina, where they were welcomed by Saudi volunteers with flowers and chocolates, Saudi television showed. Others traveled overland.

One woman from Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province, a 53-year-old homemaker, said she arrived in Mecca earlier this month after a three-day bus journey through Iraq. Her family stayed behind out of fear.

A trader in Tehran who imports cars and spare parts from China was still planning to attend, despite fears that Iranians could become targets there, and the increased costs from the devaluation of the Iranian currency. He said he trusted Iranian authorities to navigate tensions to keep pilgrims safe and was willing to accept any burden to fulfill his religious obligation.