Iran Confirms Receipt of Invitation from Saudi Arabia for Next Year's Hajj Ceremony

The representative of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs announced that Saudi Arabia has sent an invitation for bilateral negotiations regarding the Hajj of 1396 (2017) to Iran, and an Iranian delegation will be dispatched to this country for negotiations. According to the IRNA news agency, Ali Qazi Askar stated on Tuesday, January 20, that the invitation from Saudi Arabia for holding meetings and bilateral negotiations for Hajj 1396 has been officially received. He emphasized that the content of this invitation is 'not very different' from previous invitations, and the Islamic Republic will respond to it in the coming days based on the points of interest. He mentioned that issues such as 'pursuing the rights' of pilgrims who died in the Mina disaster and the Grand Mosque will be discussed in negotiations with the counterpart. He stressed that due to the severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Saudi Arabia must cooperate with Iran, and necessary arrangements should be made for the dispatch of Iranian pilgrims to Hajj 1396 in both Iran and Saudi Arabia. Mr. Qazi Askar did not mention the exact time of receiving this invitation in his remarks. Bahram Qasemi, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, denied the receipt of such an invitation on January 15. Mehdi Shahsavari, the director of the presidency and public relations of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, also made similar statements to Bahram Qasemi on January 12. Four days before these statements, Muhammad Saleh bin Taher Benten, the Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah, announced the sending of an invitation to Iran for the dispatch of applicants wishing to participate in next year's Hajj ceremony. Following the Mina disaster in October 2015, which resulted in the deaths of 465 Iranian pilgrims, Iran and Saudi Arabia could not reach an agreement on security measures and other issues between the two countries, and Tehran refrained from sending Iranian pilgrims to the Hajj this year. Saudi Arabia stated that 770 people were killed during the Mina incident, but according to the Associated Press count, at least 2,426 people died in this event. After the Mina disaster and the cancellation of Hajj 1395, officials of the Islamic Republic severely criticized Saudi Arabia. Among them, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, on September 6, in a message to the world's Muslims, referred to Saudi officials with titles such as 'godless and heartless rulers', 'instigators of sedition', 'politicians unaware of God', and 'the cursed tree of tyrants', and called on Islamic countries to 'think seriously about managing Hajj'. Iran has also suspended Umrah since late April 2015 following the Jeddah airport incident where two Iranian teenagers were sexually assaulted. Iran's condition for resuming Umrah was the execution of the maximum punishment for the two guilty Saudi officials and providing guarantees for the safety of pilgrims. Iran and Saudi Arabia have experienced a cold and tense period in their bilateral relations, especially after the death of King Abdullah, the former king of Saudi Arabia, and the conflicting interests of the two countries in regional issues such as Syria and Yemen have increased tensions in their relations. The attack on Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran and Mashhad last January led to the severance of diplomatic relations between this country and several of its allies with Iran.