The World - News from May 16, 1989

Iran rejected an invitation to a meeting of Islamic affairs ministers in Saudi Arabia in what appeared to be a worsening of already strained relations between the two Persian Gulf nations, diplomats reported. Riyadh and Tehran are engaged in a war of words over the quota given Iran for the annual pilgrimage in July, when Muslims from around the world converge on Islam’s holiest shrines at Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The diplomats said Iran is angry because Saudi Arabia is adhering to the quota system initiated last year. The nations broke ties after demonstrations by Iranian pilgrims in 1987 that left 402 people dead.