For the first time in over eight years, Iranian pilgrims will visit Islam’s holiest sites in Saudi Arabia from December 19, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday (Dec 13). The development is the latest sign of thawing ties between the Shia and Saudi powerhouses of West Asia.
Flights will take off from 10 airports around Iran carrying Iranians travelling on the year-round Umrah pilgrimage to the Islamic holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the semi-official Fars news agency said.
The first dispatch of Iranian Umrah pilgrims will occur from Dec. 19, Fars added.
Fars said up to 70,000 Iranian pilgrims were expected to travel to Saudi Arabia by the end of February 2024.
Since 2016, the Iranian pilgrims have only been able to complete the hajj pilgrimage, a religious duty deemed compulsory for Muslims who aim to carry it out once in their lifetime and which is subject to strict annual quotas and timings.
But Iranians are now able to complete the Umrah as well, deemed a “lesser pilgrimage” that can be taken at any time of the year and is not compulsory in Islam unlike Hajj.
The currently ongoing negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia also aim to re-establish non-religious tourism between the two countries, with flights linking Riyadh and Tehran.
With China at the centre of the geopolitical picture in March 2023, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restore diplomatic ties after their seven years of bilateral estrangement.
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The deal, which entailed Iran and Saudi Arabia reopening their embassies and missions in each other’s cities, resulted in a shifting of sands in Beijing’s favour in a region where the United States has waged conflicts and spent hundreds of billions of dollars in providing security for its allies.
(With inputs from agencies)
