Jordanian authorities have refused several requests by Iran to allow groups of religious pilgrims into the country, citing Sunni-Shiite tensions, an Amman-based newspaper reported Sunday.
Religious Endowment and Islamic Affairs Minister Hayel Dawood said that Iranian officials asked Jordan five times last year to allow groups of Shiite pilgrims to visit holy sites in the south of the kingdom, according to the Jordan Times. All the requests were denied.
Jordan has a 95 percent Sunni majority, while Iran is home to the world’s largest Shiite population — 90%-95% of Iranians are estimated to be Shiite.
Tehran has expressed eagerness to improve commercial ties with Jordan, offering to supply Jordan its oil needs for 30 years in return for permission to bring in groups of Shiite pilgrims.
“Our reply was that we welcome better ties, but the issue of religious tourism is not possible due to current sectarian tensions in the region,” Dawood told the Jordan Times.
The significance of the holy sites in Jordan’s southern Mazar region dates back to a battle against the Byzantines that took place in 629 CE.
Some 30,000 people of various nationalities visited the holy sites in the region in 2014, the report said.
Concerned with the rise of the radical Islamic State group on its border, Jordan has been taking measures against the incursion of radical elements into the country.
The Washington Post reported in late 2014 that Jordan had begun an active campaign to persuade — and, if necessary, pressure — its Islamic clerics to preach moderate Islam.
As part of the campaign, Dawood toured the kingdom to announce the government’s new rules for preaching sermons in mosques. These included a prohibition on any speech against King Abdullah II and the royal family, slandering leaders of neighboring Arab countries, inflammatory speech against the United States and Europe and support for jihad and radicalism.
