Iran Awaits Saudi Clearance to Resume Umrah

Date: 14 August 2024 - 22:07

News ID: ۱۳۰۴۷۶

TEHRAN -- A Hajj and pilgrimage official say Iran is waiting for Saudi Arabia’s clearance for Iranian flights to start sending Umrah pilgrims to the country.
Abbas Husseini said the plane ticket prices should also be determined by the Civil Aviation Organization before the flights start.
The head of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said using the Taef airport to take Iranian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia is on the agenda of the organization.
In April this year, the first batch of pilgrims left Tehran and Mashhad for the holy city of Medina to mark the resumption of Umrah pilgrimage for Iranians after a nine-year hiatus.
Umrah differs from Hajj in that the latter is a lengthier visit which is done once a year and performed once in a lifetime by able-bodied Muslims who can afford it.
Iran stopped sending Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia after two Iranian teenage boys were harassed in an airport in the Saudi city of Jeddah in March 2015.
That came nearly a year before the two countries cut their diplomatic relations.
Iran and Saudi Arabia re-established diplomatic ties in March 2023 through a China-mediated agreement, marking a significant development after severing relations in 2016.TEHRAN -- A Hajj and pilgrimage official say Iran is waiting for Saudi Arabia’s clearance for Iranian flights to start sending Umrah pilgrims to the country.
Iran and Saudi Arabia re-established diplomatic ties in March 2023 through a China-mediated agreement, marking a significant development after severing relations in 2016.