Iranian Delegation Due in Saudi Arabia to Discuss Hajj Pilgrimage
Leading a delegation, Hamid Mohammadi will travel to the Arab country in January to hold talks with Saudi officials on Hajj, the organization’s website reported.
Hajj is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca and the largest gathering of Muslim people in the world every year.
This year, after a pause in 2016, Iranians were also among the pilgrims from around the world attending Hajj.
In 2016, more than 1.8 million pilgrims attended 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 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. Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people were killed, but officials at Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization say about 4,700 people, including over 460 Iranian pilgrims, lost their lives.
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