Alwaght- Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has slammed the Saudi move to ban Iranian pilgrims from performing Hajj saying the move serves the interests of the Zionist Israeli regime.
Addressing a gathering in the northwestern province of West Azarbaijan on Monday, he noted that the religious ceremony of Hajj, the holy cities of Mecca and Medina belong to all Muslims and the Hajj constitutes a venue for realization of Islamic World interests.
The childish bid by those claiming to be the custodians of the two holy mosques in blocking the path of God and Hajj as well as spreading instability in the region is [tantamount to] meeting the interests of the Zionist regime,” he added.
Iranian Culture Minister Ali Jannati said on Sunday that given “sabotage and obstacles” created by Saudi officials; performing the Hajj ritual this year is virtually impossible.
The minister's remarks came after a six-member Iranian delegation traveled to Saudi Arabia on May 24 for a second time to hold last-ditch talks with Saudi officials to iron out differences between the two countries, but negotiations failed to bear fruit.
The head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Saeed Ohadi explained reasons why Iran has finally decided not to send its Hajj pilgrims to Mecca this year.
He noted that after lengthy negotiations between the two sides, the government in Riyadh added 11 articles to a memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which were not there in last years’ Hajj agreements between the two countries.
Ohadi noted that the new articles added by the Saudi government, which tried to impose new restrictions on Iranian Hajj pilgrims, made it impossible for the Islamic Republic to accept the whole agreement as a result of which Iran will not be sending Hajj pilgrims to the holy city of Mecca this year.
Elsewhere, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani told reporters on Monday that the Saudi government should learn lessons from the consequences of its wrong policies and stop such “divisive measures.”
He added that Iran had prepared a detailed to-do list for the Saudi government to help Iranians perform the Hajj ritual in a "dignified" way but Al Saud refused to accept it.
Meanwhile, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, also said on Monday that Saudi Arabia lacks the competence to guarantee the safety of pilgrims.
Ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been tense since the Islamic Republic slammed the kingdom's execution of prominent Islamic scholar Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in January.
Following the execution, spontaneous protests emerged in Tehran with irate protestors storming the Saudi Embassy. Iranian authorities took immediate actions and arrested perpetrators. Despite prompt action by Iranian authorities, Saudi regime unilaterally severed diplomatic ties with Iran and asked Iran to close its embassy in Riyadh.
