Iran on Tuesday announced that it had received an official invitation from Saudi Arabia for its pilgrims to attend this year’s Haj, two weeks after Riyadh announced it.
Iranian pilgrims could not attend last year’s Haj after Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran following the torching of its missions in Tehran and Mashhad by protesters last January.
The tone is “not that much different from past letters”, Haj affairs representative Ali Ghazi Askar said, adding that Iran would respond in the coming days.
Negotiations for Iranian pilgrims to join last year’s Haj broke down over the questions of where their visas should be issued and how their security could be assured following the deaths of 464 in a stampede at the 2015 Haj.
The Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Dec 30 that Saudi Pilgrimage Minister Mohammed Bentin had opened discussions with more than 80 countries, including Iran, on the arrangements for the 2017 Haj.
