Amid row with Saudi, Iran likely to skip Haj

Tehran, May 29 

Iran said today its pilgrims would miss the Mecca pilgrimage this year because Saudi Arabia, custodian of Islam’s holiest sites, was raising obstacles and “blocking the path to Allah” for its faithful.

Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati said: “We were supposed to wait for the Saudi officials’ final response about our points in the negotiations.” “The rhetoric of the Saudi side with the Iranian representatives, and their obstructions showed that performing Haj rituals is impossible (for Iranians) this year in September,” Xinhua news agency quoted Jannati as saying.  

“Iran’s Haj and Pilgrimage Organisation will announce this on Monday,” he said.

Saudi officials have said an Iranian delegation wrapped up a visit to the kingdom on Friday without reaching a final agreement on arrangements for haj pilgrims from the Islamic republic. The Saudi haj ministry said it had offered “many solutions” to meet a string of demands made by the Iranians in two-day talks.

Agreement had been reached in some areas, including to use electronic visas which could be printed out by Iranian pilgrims, as Saudi diplomatic missions remain shut in Iran, it said. — AFP