Hajj Iran Refuses To Sign Arrangement Deal 2016

The Iran’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister, Ali Jannati

The Saudi government has said that the Iranian Hajj Affairs refused to sign the minutes of the agreement to seal the arrangements for the pilgrimage of this year’s Hajj exercise.
The Iran’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister, Ali Jannati had, last week, said Iranians will not make the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia this year after talks failed to break an impasse over issuance of visa

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, in a statement made available to Daily Trust, said the authorities in the Kingdom did not prevent Iranians from performing hajj and that the ban was imposed by the Iranian government.
It noted that the Iran’s delegation, at a meeting with Saudi Hajj officials in Riyadh declined to sign the arrangement unless their demands are met.
The demands, according to the statement, includes issuance of visas to intending Iranian pilgrims from inside Iran, reformulate the paragraph on civil aviation with respect to dividing transporting of pilgrims between the Iranian and Saudi air carriers.
The statement explained that the Iranian delegation left Riyadh without signing the agreement with the knowledge that visas can be processed electronically. The ministry stressed that Saudi government welcomes all pilgrims, visitors from around the world and that they do not prevent any Muslims from coming to the Holy Lands to practice religious rituals.