3900 Toman Dollar for Pilgrimage to a 'Black Country'

In evaluating the protests that have recently recurred across Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, believed in a purely 'outward-looking' perspective that the U.S. has 'allied with the black countries of the region to create chaos in Iran.' Which countries are these 'black' countries of the region? And if there is an 'alliance' between these countries and the U.S. to fuel unrest in Iran, how does the Islamic Republic behave towards these countries that Khamenei describes as 'black'? If Khamenei were to name these black countries, he would likely enumerate a long list of regional countries that are currently allied with the U.S. against the Islamic Republic. It can certainly be guessed that Saudi Arabia is at the top of this list. Previously, in his Hajj message in September 2016, he referred to the rulers of Saudi Arabia as 'misguided black ones' who are 'the accursed tree of tyrants and subservient to foreigners' and 'the disgrace of the Islamic world,' going so far as to say they are worse than 'the infidels of Quraysh' and 'Israel.' The reasons for his strong rhetoric against Saudi Arabia are clear. He sees that Riyadh has formed a military coalition against the Houthis, an ally of the Islamic Republic, in Yemen. In Syria, it seeks to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, an ally of the Islamic Republic. It has initiated an oil war against Iran to reduce Iran's oil revenues. It has entered a phase of cooperation with Israel against the Islamic Republic. It executed Sheikh Baqir al-Nimr (the Arab Shia cleric supported by Tehran), and so on. The indictment Khamenei could enumerate against Saudi Arabia is likely much longer than what has been mentioned. He has many reasons to describe Saudi Arabia as a black country. The verbal tension between him and Saudi officials has reached a point where Mohammed bin Salman, the influential Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, previously referred to Khamenei as 'the new Hitler,' stating that his country would not remain passive and would throw the ball back to Iran. Therefore, it is clear that from Khamenei's perspective, Saudi Arabia is certainly one of those black countries in the region and perhaps at the top of them that has allied with the U.S. to fuel 'chaos' in Iran. He has no inward-looking perspective on the mismanagement within the country that has caused the protests. Now, if he considers Saudi Arabia to be such a factor in fueling unrest, the question is, what is the Islamic Republic's behavior towards this country? Why, after the bloody Hajj of 2015, in which more than two thousand pilgrims, including nearly 500 Iranian pilgrims, were killed, and following the suspension of Hajj in 2016 due to the execution of Sheikh Nimr, did he insist on attending Hajj in 2017? If the answer is that he seeks to use 'Hajj diplomacy' to renew relations with the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi Foreign Minister, described this as ridiculous. After Iran's participation in last year's Hajj, evidence suggests that the Islamic Republic intends to send pilgrims to Hajj this year as well. The 2018 Hajj comes at a time when the Islamic Republic is facing a staggering surge in the prices of foreign currencies, including the dollar, which has jumped to over 9,000 tomans, with the possibility of further deterioration. This has led to such a reduction in the supply of dollars that Khamenei recently recommended in one of his speeches to reduce the demand for currency, stating that 'those who have gotten used to going on foreign recreational trips should abandon this habit.' However, despite this recommendation, he exempted pilgrimage trips, saying '[this recommendation] does not include pilgrimage trips to the holy shrines or Hajj. This is not what is meant; these trips do not impose such a burden and cost on the country, and they have their own blessings.' Thus, he believes that pilgrimage trips, including Hajj, are not particularly costly. Based on this, the Hajj Organization has prepared for this year's Hajj in Saudi Arabia, but it is interesting to note that Ali Qazi Askar, the representative of the Supreme Leader for Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs, referring to the currency market turmoil, stated, 'I have written a letter to our President and requested that Hajj be calculated at a rate of 3,900 tomans per dollar.' In other words, while Khamenei considers Saudi Arabia a black country and an ally of the U.S. to fuel unrest in Iran, he simultaneously intends to participate in Hajj, not with the free dollar (9,000 tomans) or the government-approved rate (4,200 tomans), but at a rate below the government-approved rate, namely 3,900 tomans. This is while the government-approved price for importing important and essential goods, such as medicine, is 4,200 tomans. This means that not only does the pilgrimage to Hajj not fall under the leader's recommendations to refrain from foreign travel, but the currency needed is considered less than the government-approved price (4,200 tomans). Now, considering that last year over 80,000 Iranian pilgrims were sent to Hajj, and assuming that each of them brings only 1,000 dollars at the price of 3,900 tomans (which is certainly more than this amount), a figure equal to 312 billion tomans (equivalent to 80 million dollars) will first leave the country and secondly help the economy of this 'black' country. Based on this, the following questions arise: 1) If Khamenei wishes to use Hajj diplomacy to improve relations with Saudi Arabia, why has he used such harsh verbal attacks against Saudi Arabia? 2) If the currency has decreased to the point that he sees the solution in reducing foreign travel, why has he exempted pilgrimage trips? How can it be believed that traveling to Turkey takes currency out of the country, but traveling to Hajj does not? 3) If Saudi Arabia is a black country that, in collusion with the U.S., is trying to fuel unrest in Iran, is sending pilgrims to Hajj, especially with a dollar rate of 3,900 tomans, not pouring water into the mill of the Saudi economy?