“Today, the first official Saudi-Iranian meeting after 3 years, the head of the Iranian Hajj and Visit Organization, Sadiq Hosseini, and the Minister of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia, Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, took place,” IRNA reported. Hosseini touched on the political misunderstanding between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the two countries’ talks to resolve outstanding issues, hoping for a concerted hajj diplomacy and political diplomacy to achieve this.

In a statement, he announced that more than 1.2 million Iranian visitors were waiting in line to perform the Hajj, urging the Saudi side to allow an increase in the proportion of Iranian citizens during this year’s Hajj rituals. Hosseini also urged Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Minister to work together to remove obstacles to resuming one-time umrah trips for Iranian visitors, criticizing the increase in hajj fees. He asked Saudi Arabian officials to cooperate in order to reduce the pressure on the pilgrims in this regard.

For his part, the Saudi Hajj Minister emphasized that his country puts the safety of pilgrims from all countries at the top of its priorities, noting that in light of the reluctance of some countries to send their citizens and the failure to use their quota this year, concerned Saudi authorities will look into proposal to increase the quota of Iranian visitors and evaluate the results after the necessary conditions are in place. Demonstrating the increase in fees for services associated with the Hajj, he explained the reasons for the increase in world prices.