Iran confirms Saudi invite to discuss Haj arrangements

Talks would include transport, safety, accommodation and medical care, supreme leader's representative says.

An Iranian official confirmed on Monday that Saudi Arabia had invited Tehran to discuss arrangements for the Haj, which Iran boycotted last year after hundreds died in a crush at the 2015 pilgrimage.

Most were Iranians, and the incident infuriated Tehran. Soon after, ties between the two regional rivals worsened further when Saudi Arabia executed a Shiite cleric convicted of terrorism, angry Iranians stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran, and Riyadh severed diplomatic relations.

Iran did not send any of its citizens to the Haj last year, accusing Saudi Arabia of failing to guarantee safety.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Muslim countries to end Saudi control of the pilgrimage, while Riyadh has accused Iran of politicising the 2015 disaster.

On Monday, Ali Ghaziaskar, Ayatollah Khamenei’s representative in Haj affairs, said Iran had “officially received Saudi Arabia’s invitation to meet and hold bilateral talks on the Haj”.

The state news agency Irna quoted him as saying the talks would be about accommodation, transportation, safety, medical care, visas and banking, and that Iran would respond in the coming days.

The Iranian foreign ministry last week denied reports in two Arabic newspapers that Iran had received an invitation from Saudi Arabia to discuss next year’s Haj.

* Reuters