First Batch of Iranian Hajj Pilgrims to Arrive in Mecca Monday
Javad Shad, deputy head of Iran’s Hajj committee in Medina, said as many as 9,458 Iranian pilgrims have so far arrived in Medina via 40 flights.
He added that the first batch of the pilgrims who had landed in the city six days ago will leave for Mecca today.
Referring to the efforts for providing services to the pilgrims, he said that like previous years, Iranian Hajjis are receiving good services in terms of food, accommodation and medical help.
Like last year, more than 85,000 Iranian pilgrims will make the pilgrimage this year.
In 2017, some 85,000 pilgrims from Iran travelled to the holy sites in Saudi Arabia for Hajj.
A year earlier, 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. 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, but officials at Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization say about 4,700 people, including over 460 Iranian pilgrims, lost their lives.
