Iran and Saudi Arabia resume pilgrimage flights since detente

Since last year’s detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran, diplomatic progress has paved the way for the resumption of pilgrimage flights from Iran to the kingdom. This restoration of ties will enable 90,000 Iranians to participate in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, reports Iran International, the first such flights after nearly a decade of severed relations.

On Monday, the first group of Iranian Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage) pilgrims embarked from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, as reported by Iran’s IRNA agency. Also present at the airport was Saudi Ambassador to Tehran, Abdullah Bin Saud Al-Anazi, who along with several Iranian officials came to send off the first group of pilgrims.

In December it was reported that Saudi Arabia had begun welcoming back Iranian pilgrims, arriving from ten airports from across the country. Since 2016, Iranian pilgrims have been limited to performing the Hajj pilgrimage, which is compulsory for Muslims who are able to carry it out at least once in their lifetime.

حضور السفير السعودي لدى #إيران في مطار طهران الدولي فجر اليوم لوداع أول وفد من المعتمرين الإيرانيين المغادرين باتجاه #السعودية بعد توقف العمرة من إيران لتسع سنوات.@alanazi203 pic.twitter.com/e2GLmNEVBO

— غزل أريحي Ghazal Aryahi (@ghazal_aryahi) April 22, 2024

Diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh were severed in 2016 following the kingdom’s controversial execution of prominent Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr and the subsequent storming of Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran in protest. In March 2023, the regional rivals agreed to resume relations under a Chinese-brokered deal.

The current detente has allowed for the operation of two daily flights from various Iranian cities, planning to carry 5,610 Iranian pilgrims for the Umrah pilgrimage by 12 May.

Iranian state media highlighted the significance of this year’s Umrah pilgrimage, the first since the suspension of such travels in 2015 following assault allegations at an airport. That same year a stampede occurred in Mina near Makkah, in which many Iranian pilgrims died. This year, a total of 5,720 Iranian pilgrims are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia for Umrah, said IRNA.

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