‘Relative Progress’ in Tehran-Riyadh Hajj Talks: Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said there have been relative progress in the ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Riyadh about the dispatch of Iranian nationals to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this summer.
The process of negotiations about the Hajj pilgrimage has made relative progress after some of the demands of the Islamic Republic were accepted by the other side, the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said in an announcement released on Tuesday.
The statement further said that the talks will continue to make sure the “rational expectations” of Iranian Hajj pilgrims will be met.
On Sunday, the representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Hajj and pilgrimage affairs had said the country plans to send at least 80,000 nationals to Saudi Arabia for Hajj pilgrimage this summer provided that remaining issues are resolved in the ongoing talks with Riyadh.
Ali Qazi-Askar said most of the disputed issues have been resolved in the negotiations, expressing the hope that the remaining problems would be resolved in coming days.
An Iranian delegation traveled to Saudi Arabia on February 23 for the talks on the Hajj pilgrimage of Iranians.
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 crush of people during the 2015 pilgrimage.
On September 24, 2015, thousands of people lost their lives in the 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. Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people were killed in the incident, but officials at Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization say about 7,000 people, including over 460 Iranian pilgrims, lost their lives.