Hajj

Saudi Arabia has reportedly suspended the visa program for Umrah (minor Hajj) pilgrimage.

The deputy head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said the dispatching of nationals to Saudi Arabia’s holy cities for performing the Umrah (minor Hajj) pilgrimage will resume if the kingdom accepts the Islamic Republic’s conditions.

The governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement on the 2019 hajj annual pilgrimage, based on which the next year’s rituals will see over 86,000 Iranian pilgrims.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the annual Hajj pilgrimage demonstrates the power of the Islamic Ummah and boosts contacts among Muslims.

A representative of Iran’s Leader says this year’s successful hajj pilgrimage can pave the way for fence-mending talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, easing disputes between the two regional powers.

Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the United States is trying to pit Islamic nations against each other, so that Muslim people are killed by fellow Muslims.

Despite the lack of diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, around 85,000 Iranian pilgrims are going to make the Hajj pilgrimage this year, an Iranian official said.

Iranian and Saudi officials have reached an agreement on terms of this year’s Hajj rituals, said Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi.

Iran will send a delegation to Saudi Arabia to prepare the grounds for the Iranian pilgrims’ presence in the next year’s Hajj.

A top Iranian Shiite cleric says Saudi Arabia has decided to adopt a different policy on Iran and this was evident in their recent behaviour towards Iranian Hajj pilgrims.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the annual Hajj pilgrimage provides the best opportunity to thwart the propaganda campaign against the Islamic Republic.

Iran is seriously following up a recent attack on an Iranian cleric by unknown elements during the Hajj season in Saudi Arabia, a senior Iranian official declared on Friday.

A cleric accompanying Iranian Hajj pilgrims has been wounded after unknown terrorists attacked him in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

The governor of the holy city of Mecca has referred to Iranians and Saudi Arabians as religious brothers, expressing the hope that Iranian pilgrims would remember the Saudis with a good impression.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, in a message released on the occasion of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, called for an end to the catastrophic incidents in Islamic countries.

Iranian president says the presence of Iranian pilgrims in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage is a good way to test Saudi Arabia’s behaviour, and can pave the way for better relations between Tehran and Riyadh if they pass the test.

Iran’s hospital in Mecca, launched by the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) a couple of years ago, has been providing various medical services for pilgrims during the Hajj season.

The Iranian Leader’s Representative in Hajj Affairs, Seyyed Ali Qazi Askar, says this year the Islamic Republic has sent about 15,000 Sunni pilgrims to Saudi Arabia to perform their annual Hajj rituals.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani says the country is concerned about the safety of its citizens in Saudi Arabia following the reopening of the countries’ border enabling Qataris to attend the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.

A top Iranian official has called on the international community not to remain indifferent toward the Saudi aggression against Yemen.

Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers shook hands on the sidelines of the OIC’s extraordinary meeting in Turkey in a move that could be referred to as bad news for Israel.

After Qatar’s protest, the Syrian government has also slammed Saudi Arabia for politicization of Hajj pilgrimage, saying the Saudi authorities continue to deny Syrian citizens the right to perform this Islamic duty.

Iran’s Culture Minister Reza Salehi Amiri says visas have been issued for members of an Iranian diplomatic delegation to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj rituals after Tehran boycotted the pilgrimage last year amid tensions with Riyadh.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Muslims should use the Hajj rituals this year to take a united stance against Israeli efforts to control the al-Aqsa Mosque.

Iran says it may reconsider its earlier decision to send Iranian pilgrims to this year’s Hajj as Riyadh has not yet issued visas for the Iranian diplomats supposed to leave for Saudi Arabia before the annual rituals begin.