Thousands of Iranians reach Saudi Arabia for Hajj despite war

Saudi Arabia is trying to project an image of maturity, stability and statecraft: the actor behaving with composure while others escalate,” said HA Hellyer, an expert in geopolitics and Middle East studies at the Royal United Services Institute and the Center for American Progress. “Mecca and Medina are simply too sacred, and too central to the global Muslim consciousness, to be drawn into geopolitical retaliation. Riyadh would be extraordinarily reluctant to restrict Iranian access to the hajj absent a clear and specific security threat.”