Iran and Saudi Arabia fail to reach deal on Haj arrangements

TEHRAN // Iran has failed to reach agreement with Saudi Arabia on arrangements for its pilgrims to join the annual Haj in September following the severing of ties, its culture minister said on Thursday.

An Iranian delegation held four days of talks in Saudi Arabia last month aimed at negotiating a deal. But with Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran closed since January and Iranian flights to the kingdom halted, they hit a deadlock.

“The arrangements have not been put together and it’s now too late,” Ali Jannati told the official IRNA news agency. “They [Saudi Arabia] did not accept our proposals concerning the issuing of visas or the transport and security of the pilgrims.”

“Saudi officials say our pilgrims must travel to another country to make their visa applications.”

Iran has been insisting that Saudi Arabia issue visas through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which has looked after Saudi interests since Riyadh broke off ties in January following the ransacking of its diplomatic missions by protesters after it executed a leading Shiite cleric.

Another contentious issue has been security, after a massive stampede at last year’s Haj killed hundreds of foreign pilgrims, including 464 Iranians.

Jannati’s ministry of culture and Islamic guidance oversees Iran’s Haj organisation which held the negotiations in Saudi Arabia.

* Agence France-Presse