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Iranians urged not to use third country to join Hajj in Saudi Arabia

Xinhua, June 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

Head of Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Saeed Ohadi asked the Iranians on Wednesday to avoid travelling to Saudi Arabia from a third country to join the Hajj ritual in September.

"This year, due to the psychological atmosphere against Iran created by the Saudis and (their) failure to provide consular services to Iranian pilgrims, it is not advisable for any (Iranian) nationals to go on Hajj pilgrimage from another country," Ohadi told Tasnim news agency.

Ohadi pointed to his recent talks with Saudi Hajj officials, saying that in the negotiations, Saudis followed "improper" approach they had adopted toward the issue of Iranians' Hajj pilgrimage earlier.

Regarding this year's Hajj, Saudi authorities' discrimination and hatred as well as their attempts to take political revenge has "reached a peak," he was quoted as saying.

On Sunday, Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati said that performing Hajj ceremony for Iranian pilgrims was "impossible" in 2016.

"We were supposed to wait until Sunday for the Saudi officials' response about our points in the negotiations. But, the rhetoric of the Saudi side with the Iranian representatives, and their obstructions showed that performing Hajj rituals is impossible (for Iranians) this year," Jannati told state TV.

After several rounds of meetings with the Saudi authorities recently, Tehran failed to reach an agreement with Riyadh on arrangements for its pilgrims to join the annual ritual in September.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have accused each other of "politicizing" the Hajj and held one another responsible for barring Iranian citizens from performing the ritual this season.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are currently locked in a diplomatic row over Syria and Yemen issues, as well as the Sunni-majority Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric, along with 46 others over terror charges, in January.

The executions sent a large number of Iranians to the streets, and some of them stormed the Saudi diplomatic missions in capital Tehran and the northeastern city of Mashhad.

Later, Riyadh cut its diplomatic ties with Tehran over the attacks, and many of Gulf countries either followed suit or downgraded their relations with Iran. Endit