Hajj pilgrims dispatch in 1400

As reported by Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Information Base, Supreme Leader's Representative in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs and Supervisor of Iranian Pilgrims Hojjat al-Islam Seyed Abdolfattah Navvab and Chairman of Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Mr. Alireza Rashidian press conference on the developments related to Hajj and the cultural, educational and executive programs of the Supreme Leader Delegation Office and the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization during Hajj week was held on Wednesday (Tir 4) with the presence of the media.
At the beginning of the meeting, Hojjat al-Islam Navvab announced the continuation of the training process for pilgrims and Hajj agents and said: "These trainings will not stop and will continue twice a week to prepare pilgrims."
He pointed out that due to the damages of previous years, some programs have been modified in Hajj, adding: "We have asked Saudi Arabia to make changes during the pilgrims' visit to Jamarat and also to cover the pilgrims' route from Mina to Jamarat."
Regarding holding Supplication of Kumayl, we have made suggestions to the host country, some of which have been approved by Saudi Arabia, and we will emphasize other demands in the next negotiations of the Hajj, Hojjat al-Islam Navvab said.
Supreme Leader's Representative in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs stated that if Saudi Arabia had not been able to hold the Hajj in the level of previous years, it could have held this obligatory duty with a percentage of the Muslim pilgrims from all over the world but Saudi officials were unable to reach a decision due to fears of a coronavirus outbreak.
The Saudi side could have held this spiritual and devotional ceremony with even one percent of the quota of each country, and thus the fragrance of this devotional ceremony would spread the spiritual atmosphere of Hajj among Muslims, He added.
Referring to cancellation of Hajj ceremony by Saudi Arabia, Head of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, Mr. Rashidian, said: "Pilgrims who have registered for this year's Hajj will be sent to the land of revelation in 1400 if they do not cancel.
"All the money received from the pilgrims has been deposited in the central bank's account, and we are trying to keep the money at the central bank for the next Hajj so that the pilgrims will not have to pay more to receive the currency next year," he said. We also call for a meeting of the Supreme Council of Hajj to raise and approve this issue and to keep the currency for the next Hajj.
Mr. Rasidian added for this year's Hajj, 72,914 people and each pilgrim paid 25 million tomans in the first installment which one million tomans initial deposit, about two and a half million tomans interest of this deposit and the rest of the money was paid by the people in one installment and the second installment has not been paid yet.
All of this amount has been deposited in the central bank's account so that due to the global economic situation and changes in currency prices, the pilgrims' money will be saved from currency fluctuations and the currency approved this year will be saved for the next Hajj, Head of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization emphasized.
Answering to a question about how pilgrims would be treated if they wanted to get their money back and cancel their Hajj, Mr Rashidian said: We will return the money and another one will replace that person for the next Hajj. If this person wants to be sent again, the cost of Hajj will be based on the new price. We are trying to keep this year's currency at the current price for next year's Hajj, because it is financially beneficial for the pilgrims.
Regarding the second installment of the Hajj 99 cost, he said: We want the people to pay this amount and buy the rest of the currency needed for Hajj in order to save for Hajj 1400.
In this press conference, Hojjat al-Islam Navvab emphasized that all necessary plans and measures had been taken for better hold of the 99 Hajj, and said: With the end of the Hajj 98, planning for the upcoming Hajj began and last Azar with the visit of Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Head and his accompanying delegation to Saudi Arabia, the Hajj Memorandum of Understanding was signed and an agreement was reached on housing contracts, transportation, nutrition and logistics, and so on. 
Training of pilgrims and brokers in cities with red and yellow status was done in absentia and in cyberspace and in cities with white status in person so that pilgrims can be prepared for this spiritual journey, representative of the Supreme Leader in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs said.
Emphasizing that we have to be responsible for the pilgrims, some of whom have been on Hajj turn for 14 years, Supervisor of Iranian Pilgrims added: two letters were sent to Saudi Arabia announcing readiness to cooperate in holding a better Hajj in the event of the corona outbreak, to which the host country did not respond.
He added: Considering that most of the Hajj rituals are held outdoors and the Prophet's Mosque, which has an enclosed space, due to the vastness of this mosque, it was possible to observe the social distance in this place and it seemed that Hajj could be held more limited.
It would have been good if Saudi Arabia had published announcements about the Hajj in the past few months so that pilgrims from different countries could plan, but unfortunately did not.
Stated that we had concluded Hajj contracts and mentioned in them that if the Hajj was canceled by Saudi Arabia, the financial loss would not be related to the Iranian side, Mr. Rashidian said: After the outbreak of Corona, the first priority for the presence of Iranian pilgrims in Hajj was maintaining the health of pilgrims. Therefore, we suggested to Saudi Arabia to add the health protocol to the Hajj contracts, and we also provided the necessary instructions in this regard for various departments.
In response to the question, why did you wait for Saudi Arabia to announce its opinions until the last opportunity and did not voluntarily withdraw from Hajj in order to maintain the health of the pilgrims? He said: According to the agreements, if we had given up, we would have suffered financial losses, but if Saudi Arabia had canceled the Hajj, we would not have suffered any losses.
Regarding holding Arbaeen ceremony this year, Hojjat al-Islam navvab referred to the meeting of the Arbaeen Cultural and Educational Committee with the presence of representatives of 20 different organizations and institutions in the Hajj Organization and said: coronavirus increase in Iraq caused the holy shrines in Karbala to be closed and quarantined for several hours last day.
He added: If the conditions are such that Iranian pilgrims cannot attend the Arbaeen ceremony this year, efforts will be made to establish tents from Iran in Iraq to serve the country's pilgrims.
Mr. Rashidian also pointed out that various scenarios have been proposed for the Arbaeen ceremony, adding: If the coronavirus had not been controlled and it was not possible for people to attend the ceremony extensively, it would have been suggested that representatives from different cities attend the ceremony on a limited basis. Of course, this depends on the readiness of Iraq.
Regarding the conditions for sending pilgrims to Syria, he said: situation of coronavirus in Syria is better than some other countries. The Corona National Headquarters has also approved the implementation and observance of protocols between the Ministry of Health of Iran and the host countries to allow the dispatch of Iranian pilgrims and the entry of travelers to the opposite country.