Riyadh
Al-Batha Border Port between Saudi Arabia and the UAE has received the first group of pilgrims coming from Russia to perform Hajj rituals, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday. Upon arrival, they were received by the head of the port, a number of its senior staff and representatives of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.
Meanwhile, around 88,000 Iranian pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia to perform this year’s Hajj, the head of the office for Iranian pilgrims’ affairs Nasser Jaber Hweizawi said. The pilgrims experienced a high level of service provided by Saudi authorities at Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Hweizawi added after he held talks with the governor of Madinah Prince Faisal bin Salman.
The Iranian pilgrims are receiving services in Madinah in coordination with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, reports Arab News.
So far, the number of pilgrims who have arrived in Madinah since the start of the current Hajj season has reached 555,338 according to statistics issued by the city’s Hajj Committee. The data showed that 393,719 pilgrims subsequently left Madinah for Makkah. On Sunday, the minister of Islamic affairs, call and guidance, Sheikh Dr. Abdullatif Al-Asheikh, will launch a Hajj awareness campaign, aiming to consolidate the purposes of Hajj among pilgrims and warn against using it as an opportunity to raise doctrinal or political slogans.
