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276 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 11 / 2018 Remote as this version may seem, the truth is that deliberate killing of Iranians had already occurred 30 years ago96. This, of course, prompted the outburst of the devotees and especially the Iranian administration97, whose Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei «entitled to temporarily cut short pillars of Islam such as prayer and the Hajj»98, decided to impede pilgrimage in 2016. What is more, this dreadful episode was maybe a turning point in the modern history of Islam. The holy city of Qom (South to Teheran) where Fatima is allegedly buried, hosts a rapidly increasing number of Shiite pilgrims from all around the globe every year. This tendency does not seem coincidental with the open confrontations against the Sunni world, both in Saudi Arabia and Syria, and so the reputation of Qom as «the real sanctuary» for believers will soon be competing with Nayaf and Kerbala in Iraq, in search of a «religion-wise» fully independent Iran. After all, why would the IRI authorities miss the chance to turn the history of religion to their own territory? Figure 12:the Jamkaran Mosque in the holly city of Qom http://revista.ieee.es CONCLUSIONS Altogether, the IRI has managed to preserve the paradigm of the «virtuous» governing in a globalized era ruled by the omnipotent market rules. That is, it has 96  KIFNER, John. «400 die as Iranian marchers battle Saudi police in Mecca; embassies smashed in Teheran», The New York Times, 1987. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/02/ world/400-die-iranian-marchers-battle-saudi-police-mecca-embassies-smashed-teheran. html?pagewanted=all. 97  AL JAZEERA. «Iran supreme leader slams Saudi Arabia over stampede», 2015. Available at: http:// www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/iran-slams-saudi-arabia-hajj-stampede-150924140959859.html. 98  RAKEL, Eva. «The Role of Shi’ism in the Foreign Policy of the IRI», in Power, Islam and Political Elite in Iran. A Study on the Iranian Political Elite from Khomeini to Ahmadinejad, Leiden: Brill, 2009, p. 26.

REVISTA IEEE 11
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