Iran Sends Delegation to Saudi Arabia for Hajj Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Culture Minister Reza Salehi Amiri said the country has sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia for negotiations on participation of Iranian pilgrims in this year’s Hajj.
Salehi Amiri on Thursday said the five-strong delegation is headed by Head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Hamid Mohammadi.
He added that Iran has seven major preconditions for dispatching pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year, the most important of which is receiving guarantees that the safety and dignity of Iranian pilgrims will be preserved.
Last week, Ali Qazi-Askar, the representative of Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Hajj and pilgrimage affairs, confirmed that Iran has received an invitation from Saudi Arabia for talks on the 2017 Hajj pilgrimage, adding that a delegation will go to the kingdom for the negotiations.
More than 1.8 million faithful took part in last year’s Hajj, but Iranians stayed at home after tensions between Riyadh and Tehran boiled over following a deadly stampede during the 2015 pilgrimage.
On September 2, 2015, thousands of people lost their lives in a deadly crush after Saudi authorities blocked a road in Mina during a ritual, forcing large crowds of pilgrims to collide.
The crush was the deadliest incident in the history of the pilgrimage. According to an Associated Press count based on official statements from the 36 countries that lost citizens in the disaster, more than 2,400 pilgrims were killed in the incident.
Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people were killed in the incident, but officials at Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization say about 4,700 people, including over 460 Iranian pilgrims, lost their lives.
