Sectarian Issues Should Be Avoided in Hajj
"We favor the unity of the Muslim Ummah (community),” Hojat-ol-Islam Seyed Ali Qazi-Askar, said in a gathering of clerics on Sunday.
"Therefore, issues that undermine Islamic unity should be avoided.”
He underscored that sectarian issues should not be raised in Hajj under any circumstances.
Elsewhere, he said Iran’s Hajj affairs representatives are in Saudi Arabia to do the latest required coordination’s for dispatching Iranian pilgrims.
Soon, visas will be issued by Riyadh for 10 Iranian Foreign Ministry staffers to go to Saudi Arabia in order to provide consular services for Iranian pilgrims during Hajj, he went on to say.
Some 86,500 Iranian pilgrims will travel to the kingdom for Hajj this year.
Iran announced in mid-March that applicants can go on Hajj pilgrimage this year following negotiations with Saudi officials after a hiatus in the wake of a diplomatic row with the kingdom.
In 2016, more than 1.8 million pilgrims attended Hajj, but Iranians stayed at home after tensions between Riyadh and Tehran boiled over following a deadly crush of people during the 2015 pilgrimage.
On September 24, 2015, thousands of people lost their lives in the deadly crush after Saudi authorities blocked a road in Mina during a ritual, forcing large crowds of pilgrims to collide.
The crush was the deadliest incident in the history of the pilgrimage. According to an Associated Press count based on official statements from the 36 countries that lost citizens in the disaster, more than 2,400 pilgrims were killed in the incident.
Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people were killed, but officials at Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization say about 4,700 people, including over 460 Iranian pilgrims, lost their lives.
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