Iran to send Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia after 9-year gap

TEHRAN: The Iranian Government will send more than 5000 Umrah pilgrims to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) after a 9-year gap.

Mohammad Hossein Ajlian, in charge of Hajj operations at Iran Airports Company, announced on Saturday that 11 flights have been scheduled to take Iranian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.

Reports by IRNA indicate that Mashhad International Airport will operate its first flight on Monday and in other major cities, including Zahedan, Ahvaz, Tabriz, Yazd, Kerman, Bandar Abbas, Sari, Isfahan, and Shiraz. Airports will charter one flight at a time. later on.

In this regard, the last flight from Mashhad Airport to Saudi Arabia will be operated on May 2. As for the number of pilgrims, Iran will send 5,720 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year.

The two countries resolved their dispute and announced the resumption of Umrah flights in December of last year. However, the plans did not materialize at that time.

It was also reported at the time that Saudi Arabia had revoked the final permits for Iranian aircraft to enter the kingdom, although things have now been settled.

Read More: Saudi govt issues latest update on Umrah visas ahead of Hajj 2024

The restoration of Umrah is an important moment after the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia in March 2023. The pilgrimage was suspended in 2015, a year before the two countries severed diplomatic ties.

The conflict between the two countries was the Hajj stampede in 2015, in which tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran increased due to the deaths of Iranian pilgrims. Iranian leaders blamed the Saudi authorities for the disaster, which killed nearly 2,000 pilgrims, including more than 400 Iranians.

China-mediated talks between the two countries are now bearing fruit, and the resumption of Umrah pilgrimages is a step in that direction.