On July 31, 1987, tensions between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia that have been escalating for years result in a riot between Iranian pilgrims and riot police in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government blame the more than 400 deaths, mostly Iranian, from the riot on the Iranian pilgrims. When news of the riots and deaths reach Iran the next day, Iranians attack the embassies of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in Tehran. In Tehran the next day, over a million Iranians gathered calling for the overthrow of the sheiks of Saudi Arabia.