In 1987 , Saudi Arabia 's fundamentalist regime attacked Iranian pilgrims who were doing a peaceful annual demonstration of Haj and killed some 275 people . 303 people were seriously injured . For years , Iranian pilgrims had tried to stage peaceful political demonstrations in the Muslim holy city of Mecca during the '' hajj '' . Iran sees the 1987 massacre of Iranian pilgrims as the first major attack by Sunni extremists like Osama bin Laden and the emerging Al-Qaeda on Shia Iranians . A few days before the massacre of Iranian pilgrims by Saudi police , USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 , killing 290 civilians
Iran Air Flight 655
Iran Air Flight 655
Islamic Principlism in Iran