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Will Iran suspend hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia?

After Riyadh severed diplomatic relations with Tehran and suspended direct flights between the two countries, some are wondering if Iranian pilgrims will be banned.

Muslim pilgrims pray around the holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque ahead of the annual haj pilgrimage in Mecca September 21, 2015.  REUTERS/Ahmad Masood - RTS24CV
Muslim pilgrims pray around the holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Sept. 21, 2015. — REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

After Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran, the chairman of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, Saeed Ohadi, said that the decision to continue or suspend hajj travel to Mecca and Medina would ultimately be up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ohadi said that at the moment, plans for the next hajj pilgrimage are taking place as scheduled and nothing has been changed. After the Saudi announcement that it was cutting ties with Iran, pictures surfaced online of Saudi officials removing the sign of the office of pilgrims affairs in Mecca belonging to Iran, and some Iranian social media users began to call for a boycott of the hajj, which will take place in September.

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