Iran Not to Send Pilgrims to Hajj if Conditions Not Met: Minister
News ID: 1060679 Service: Politics
April, 28, 2016 - 14:50
http://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2016/04/28/1060679/iran-not-to-send-pilgrims-to-hajj-if-conditions-not-met-minister

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali
Jannati said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia should accept the conditions
Tehran has set for the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage, otherwise Iranian pilgrims
will not be sent to this year’s annual religious ceremony.

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency in Tehran, Jannati said plans for the
presence of Iranians in the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage have not been still
scrapped, but made it clear that Tehran will not agree to the conditions set
by Riyadh.

Negotiations between two sides are still underway, he explained, adding, “We
have informed Saudis of our conditions for ensuring the (Iranian) pilgrims’
safety, (and treating them with) respect and dignity, in addition to some
other issues.”

The minister emphasized that Iran will boycott this year’s Hajj if Saudi
Arabia does not agree to the Islamic Republic’s conditions.

Last month, Head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Saeed Ohadi took
a swipe at Saudi officials for a delay in holding negotiations in
preparation for the upcoming Hajj rituals.

Tehran has been trying to contact Saudi Hajj authorities for arranging a
meeting for talks about Iranians’ possible religious visit to the kingdom
for this year’s Hajj season, irrespective of political disputes, he said at
the time.

Iran insists 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.

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.

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.

R42340/P42410