Iran sends delegation to Saudi for talks on rejoining haj

Breaking Headlines
2017-02-22 | 10:43
High views
Share
LBCI
Share
LBCI
Whatsapp
facebook
Twitter
Messenger
telegram
telegram
print
Iran sends delegation to Saudi for talks on rejoining haj
Whatsapp
facebook
Twitter
Messenger
telegram
telegram
print
2min
Iran sends delegation to Saudi for talks on rejoining haj

Iran has sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia for talks on Iranians attending haj, state television reported on Wednesday, after Tehran boycotted the Muslim pilgrimage last year.

 

Relations between the two regional powers, who back rival sides in several Middle East conflicts, worsened after hundreds of people, many of them Iranians, died in a crush at the 2015 pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

 

Iran blamed the disaster on organizers' incompetence, and boycotted last year's haj.

 

Ties worsened further when Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia executed a Shi'ite cleric in January 2016, angry Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran, and Riyadh severed diplomatic relations.

 

Reza Salehi Amiri, Iran's Islamic guidance and culture minister, told state television that Tehran was seeking guarantees to ensure the "dignity and safety" of the pilgrims before it agrees for the resumption of its participation in the pilgrimage, which starts this year in late August.

 

The delegation -- including officials of Iran's Haj and Pilgrimage Organization and representatives of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- left for Saudi Arabia late on Tuesday at the invitation of Saudi officials, the television said.

 

 
REUTERS

Breaking Headlines

Iran

Saudi Arabia

LBCI Next
Grand Mufti Derian travels to Saudi Arabia for Hajj
Download now the LBCI mobile app
To see the latest news, the latest daily programs in Lebanon and the world
Google Play
App Store
We use
cookies
We use cookies to make
your experience on this
website better.
Accept
Learn More