No Order Issued for Pilgrimage Officials to Leave Saudi Arabia

Simultaneously with the statements of the Saudi Foreign Minister, indicating that the severance of relations with Iran does not include the Hajj pilgrimage, the Director General of Public Relations of Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization announced that no order has been issued regarding the departure of those involved in organizing the Hajj from Saudi Arabia. According to the Tabnak website, Mehdi Shahsavari stated on Tuesday, January 14, 'We have not been informed about the departure of organization members or the mission, and our Foreign Ministry has not corresponded on this matter.' Previously, some members of parliament and media outlets announced that the severance of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia would impact the dispatch of Iranian pilgrims for the obligatory Hajj next year. Among them, Mohammad Ali Esfanani, spokesperson for the Judicial Commission of Parliament, stated that the halt of Hajj dispatches would be a consequence of the severance of relations between the two countries. Hossein Nooshabadi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, also said on Tuesday at a press conference that although the policy of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization is not to get involved in political issues, naturally, 'the severance of political relations also affects other areas.' Nevertheless, the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization described reports about the suspension of the Hajj as 'unsubstantiated' and announced that this organization and the mission of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic would make decisions in this regard 'considering religious issues' and the opinions of 'high-ranking officials of the system and government.' Meanwhile, the Planning Council of the Supreme Leader's mission also announced that the issue of next year's obligatory Hajj would be pursued through the Supreme Hajj Council and the Supreme National Security Council 'with consideration of religious issues.' On Tuesday, a day after the announcement of the severance of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi Foreign Minister, explained that this severance includes the end of all trade relations and the cancellation of flights between the two countries, but does not encompass the travel of Iranians to the Hajj pilgrimage. The dispatch of Iranian pilgrims for Umrah has been halted since Farvardin (March-April) following the incident involving the 'assault' on two Iranian teenagers in Jeddah.