AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Iran will start dispatching Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, May 24, an official said.
Hojat-ol-Islam Seyed Abdol Fattah Navab, the representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Hajj and pilgrimage affairs, made the remark during a training session for Hajj pilgrims held in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Friday.
He added that the last batch of pilgrims will return to Iran on July 25.
The cleric noted that Hajj is a spiritual journey and those who can make it should make the best of this “golden opportunity”.
Hojat-ol-Islam Navab added that every second of this journey is a reward for those making it, stressing that the pilgrims’ top priority should be benefiting from every second.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he said 950,000 Iranians are on a waiting list to go on Hajj.
According to Head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Seyed Sadeq Hosseini, some 85,000 Iranians will participate in the Hajj this year.
That is the quota allocated to Iran by Saudi Arabia.
In 2022, Saudi Arabia received foreign pilgrims, including Iranians, for Hajj after two years of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figures show some 1.2 million Iranians are on a waiting list for travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj pilgrimage. They have been waiting for years for their turn.
Hajj is a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca that every able-bodied and financially able Muslim is obliged to undertake at least once during their lifetime.
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