In a new show of tension in the region, Iran announced that it failed to reach agreement with Saudi Arabia on arrangements for the pilgrims to join the annual Hajj in September following the severing of ties.
An Iranian delegation held four days of talks in Saudi Arabia last month aimed at thrashing out a deal but with Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran closed since January and Iranian flights to the kingdom halted they hit deadlock.
According to the Iranian culture minister, Ali Jannati: “The arrangements have not been put together and it’s now too late. The sabotage is coming from the Saudis.”
“Their attitude was cold and inappropriate. They did not accept our proposals concerning the issuing of visas or the transport and security of the pilgrims.”He further said: “Saudi officials say our pilgrims must travel to another country to make their visa applications.”
Iran has been insisting that Saudi Arabia issue visas through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which has looked after Saudi interests since Riyadh broke off ties in January following the ransacking of its diplomatic missions by protesters after it executed a leading Shiite cleric.
Another contentious issue has been security, after a n incident at last year’s hajj killed more than 2,000 foreign pilgrims, including 464 Iranians.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
12-05-2016 | 12:22
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