Head of Iranian Pilgrims Calls for More Efforts to Increase Quality of Hajj Journey for Pilgrims

According to the Hajj Information Base, Hojjat ​​al-Islam Seyed Abdolfattah Navvab, the Supreme Leader's representative in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs, who has traveled to Shiraz, congratulated the heads of Hajj caravans in Fars province on the arrival of the month of Rajab and commemorating the 19th of December, the anniversary of the uprising of the people of Qom.

"The work of caravan managers is very important and in this difficult situation, we should all try to improve the quality of pilgrims' Hajj and Umrah trips," he added.

Hojjat al-Islam Navvab pointed out that in the past, "we had 800,000 Umrah pilgrims and even an additional quota was given to the country, but now this number is less".

Hojjat al-Islam Navvab pointed out the problems of this year's Hajj season, and said, "Due to the extreme heat, 600 Egyptian pilgrims died and a total of 1,300 people lost their lives, but with the measures taken, the number of dead Iranian pilgrims decreased by 36%.

He mentioned the cost of Hajj, and clarified, "We are trying to make the conditions for the pilgrims in such a way that they get the maximum spiritual benefit from this trip."

"In this year's Hajj, Iran was the first country to transport pilgrims from Medina to Mecca by high-speed trains," the Supreme Leader's representative in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs said.

Hojjat al-Islam Navvab further pointed out that also, the opening of Taif Airport to Iranian flights and the reduction of the distance that pilgrims travel to Mecca made their stay in the Land of Revelation to increase by one day and benefit from this trip better.

He said that 170,000 pilgrims have been planned for this year's Umrah, but we are trying to increase the number of pilgrims to 400,000 for next year.

Hojjat al-Islam Navvab announced the registration of 5,850,000 people for the Umrah journey, and said, "If the Umrah journey had not been stopped in the previous, years, with the annual sending of 800,000 people, all the registrants would have gone to the Land of Revelation."

He pointed to the effects of the destruction of hotels for the accommodation of pilgrims in Mecca and Medina, and added that the 30% increase in the price of diesel in Saudi Arabia has caused the companies that contract vehicles in Medina and Mecca to increase the previous prices.

At the end, he reminded the pilgrims of the need for physical ability, and said that ability is determined based on the guidelines of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and the minimum health standards of people are supposed to be taken into account.