Tehran, Iran, Feb. 17
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Iran is sending a delegation to Riyadh to talk their disputes over the Muslim hajj pilgrimage with Saudi officials on February 23.
“In a letter to the Saudi minister of hajj, we mentioned our conditions for sending pilgrims,” Minister of Culture Reza Salehi Amiri said, Mehr news agency reported February 17.
Iran did not send pilgrims to hajj in 2016 because it said Riyadh had failed to meet its responsibilities after the 2015 incident in Mina, near Mecca, where close to 500 Iranian pilgrims were killed in a stampede.
“Our conditions include providing the pilgrims with security, giving them due respect, as well as paying the blood money of those killed in the Mina tragedy,” the Iranian minister said.