Iran on Saturday condemned the suicide blast near Islam's holiest site in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The country also set aside its differences with Saudi and offered its assistance in tackling terrorism together.
"Iran as always expresses its readiness to assist and cooperate with other countries to confront these criminals, who deal death and ignorantly spread hate," foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi said.
Iran, which is majorly Shiite, and Saudi Arabia, which is mainly Sunni-populated, have been engaged in a bitter battle for regional influence. The countries severed their ties with each other, and have had no diplomatic relations since January 2016.
A suicide bomber blew himself up near the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, injuring six foreign pilgrims and five security personnel. Reports state that hundreds of thousands of worshippers had gathered at the Grand mosque to offer their prayers on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.
Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said that its security forces foiled a wider plot of a suicide attack on the Grand Mosque. The forces reportedly cornered the suspected attacker in an apartment, where he blew himself up, the ministry added. Five suspects have been arrested in the case.
Saudi Arabia has faced periodic bombings and shootings claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group ever since late 2014. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had called for attacks against the kingdom as it is a member of the United States-led coalition which is battling the extremist group in Syria and Iraq.
At least four security officers had died in an explosion near Islam's second holiest site, the Prophet's Mosque, at the same time last year during the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The Kingdom had witnessed three suicide blasts that day in which at least seven people were killed. The other attacks occurred in Jeddah and in the Gulf city of Qatif, according to AFP reports.
