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Iranian Muslims to miss haj pilgrimage amid rift with Saudi

12 May 2016 19:39 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Iranian Muslims will miss the annual haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in September,as Tehran and Riyadh traded blame over a failure to agree organizational details, APA reports quoting Reuters.

The regional rivals cut diplomatic ties in January.

Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Tehran's Islamic Guidance and Culture Minister Ali Jannati as blaming Riyadh for the impasse. Last year's haj was marred by the death of over 2,000 pilgrims, 464 of them Iranian, in a crush during the crowded pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest city.

"The arrangements have not been put together and it's now too late," said Jannati, whose ministry oversees arrangements for Iranian pilgrims. "The sabotage is coming from the Saudi side."

The Saudi haj ministry said Tehran's delegation had refused to sign an agreement laying out arrangements for this year's haj, according to a statement carried by state-linked news site Sabq.

The statement said Iran's demands included the granting of visas inside Iran and transport arrangements that would evenly split the pilgrims between Saudi and Iranian airlines.

"Iran is the only country that refused to sign the agreement on the haj. It insisted on a number of unacceptable demands," Minister of Haj and Umra Mohammed Bintin told state television station Ekhbariya.