Word: mecca
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Without doubt, Syrian-Iranian tension was at the heart of the case. If the Syrians had been angered by Glass's abduction, they were shocked by last month's incident in Saudi Arabia at the holy city of Mecca, where thousands of Iranian Shi'ite pilgrims staged a bloody riot against Saudi authority. This, in turn, caused other Arab leaders to urge Assad to stop supporting Iran in the gulf war -- a step that would cost him his right to buy Iranian oil at heavily discounted prices. According to Syrian diplomats, Damascus has warned Iran against widening...
Iran remained relatively calm following a fit of frenzy two weeks ago. After blaming the U.S. for riots that killed nearly 300 Iranian pilgrims in Mecca, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini launched four days of war games in the strait and loudly promised to settle the score. Late last week an explosion at an Aramco gas plant on the Saudi Arabian coast raised fears that Iran was stepping up its campaign of terrorist subversion against its gulf neighbors. Some 20 workers were killed. Earlier, Iranian officials paid lip service to a United Nations Security Council resolution that called...
...talk and act tough. "To be perceived as nonrevolutionary in Iran is the kiss of death," says Iranian Expert Gary Sick. Almost overnight the softening face that Iran presented to the world reverted to a furious scowl. Khomeini reportedly was in his blackest mood in years as the annual Mecca pilgrimage neared. "Break the teeth of the Americans," he told the 150,000 Iranians who set out on the trip...
Khomeini's relations with Saudi Arabia seem almost beyond repair. Ironically, the break follows a period in which Iran seemed to moderate its religious rivalry with the House of Saud. In a conciliatory move two years ago Khomeini replaced his religious representative in Mecca, a hard-line cleric whom the Saudis loathed. Before the start of this year's hajj, however, Khomeini's hatred had revived. Not only were the Saudis still bankrolling Iraq, they openly supported Kuwait's assistance to Baghdad. Many observers expect Iran to avenge the Mecca deaths by launching terrorist acts on Saudi Arabian soil...
...mobs in Tehran chant "Death to America !" and vow revenge for Iranian pilgrims killed in Mecca, the country' s theocrats seem poised to unleash their fanatic followers on the U. S., France and Arab nations. But inside Iran there is an invisible side to the Islamic revolution: cynical, corrupt and disillusioned. How should the U. S. respond? See WORLD...