A day after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Saudi authorities of poorly managing hajj last year, which left hundreds of pilgrims dead, the kingdom's Grand Mufti struck back.
Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh was not at all "surprised" by comments made by Khamenei, among others, saying they are "the sons of Magi," a reference to Zoroastrianism – the pre-Islamic religion that once dominated Iran.
Because of this, Sheikh believes the leaders of Iran "are not Muslim."
"We have to understand that they are not Muslims," Sheikh reportedly said, according to the BBC .
"Their enmity towards Muslims is an old one and their main enemies are the followers of the Sunnah," he added, according to The Daily Star .
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef also issued a response following Khamenei's comments, where he pointed out that pilgrims' safety comes first, always.
"The kingdom [does] not allow in any way the occurrence of what is contrary to the rites of the pilgrimage that may disturb security and affect the lives of pilgrims and their safety, be them Iranians or otherwise," Prince Mohammed bin Nayef said, according to Al Arabiya .
Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has since responded to these comments with a tweet, criticizing Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi school...
Which caused a lot of outrage and hate
For and against his tweets...
People are not sure what to think of the debacle altogether...
Some are just pointing out facts
And of course, some are just throwing jokes to make sense of the whole thing
Earlier this year, the two countries failed to reach an agreement, which would allow Iranians to attend the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
"The Iranian authorities are the ones who don't want the Iranian pilgrims to come here for reasons concerning the Iranians themselves and in light of them seeking to politicize Hajj and turn it into rituals against Islam's teachings and that compromise the safety of Hajj," Prince Mohammed bin Nayef said, according to Al Jazeera.