Saudis Set Conditions for Iranian Hajjis
Spokesman for Saudi Hajj ministry Hatim Qadhi said an assembly ban and a ban on chanting slogans are among the conditions, Al-Jazeera Arabic reported.
This is while it is Iran that has insisted on certain preconditions for sending its pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
One of them is that the safety of travelers to Saudi Arabia must be ensured, given the disaster in Mina that killed many Iranian pilgrims in the previous Hajj pilgrimage.
Head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Saeed Ohadi is in the Arab country at the head of a delegation to meet with Saudi officials on new arrangements for the Hajj.
More than 460 Iranians were among the thousands of pilgrims who died on September 24, 2015, in a crush in Mina, near Mecca, during the Hajj pilgrimage.
The incident marked the worst ever tragedy during Hajj.
Riyadh has faced heavy criticism for its handling of the crush last year.
There have been doubts about participation of Iranian pilgrims in the 2016 Hajj since tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia ran high following Riyadh’s execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, and a subsequent attack by outraged Iranian protesters on the Saudi embassy in Tehran, which resulted in the Arab country’s decision to sever its ties with the Islamic Republic.
Although Iranian officials criticized the embassy attack and those involved in the attack have been brought to justice, Saudi Arabia has cut off all diplomatic relations with Iran.
