556 Caravans Announced for Final Registration of Upcoming Hajj Pilgrims

According to the Hajj Information Base, at today's meeting of the Planning and Coordination Council of the Supreme Leader's Mission and the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, which was held under the chairmanship of Hojjat al-Islam Seyed Abdolfattah Navvab, Mr. Hamid Reza Mohammadi, while announcing this news, referred to the capacity of the caravans of 95, 120, 135 and 165 people, and said, "With the aim of the system of stepwise promotion and force building, caravans with a capacity of 135 people and above have been created in greater numbers than the previous year."

He presented statistics on the number of cultural servants and executive agents of the caravans, and said, "The instructions for selecting agents have been announced and 466 caravan managers are Shiite and 90 managers are Sunni."

Hojjat al-Islam Seyed Hossein Ruknedini, the cultural deputy of the Supreme Leader's delegation, also pointed out that 300 clerics of the caravan have been introduced so far, and indicated the readiness to announce the names of the remaining clerics, as well as the specifics of the caravans, and announced plans to send 6 student caravans for Umrah.

The Supreme Leader's representative for Hajj and pilgrimage affairs also recalled the centrality of the Supreme Leader's representative institution in universities regarding student and scholarly expeditions, and called for greater interaction and coordination between the relevant departments in the Mission and the Hajj Organization to plan for a faster start of educational programs for Hajj pilgrims in 1404.

Continuing the meeting, Mr. Alireza Bayat, head of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, referring to the announcement of the formation of two caravans for Iranians abroad, stated: "During a recent trip to Saudi Arabia, the issue of allocating a higher quota for sending pilgrims, considering the population of our country, and allocating the desired percentage of the Hajj and Pilgrimage package to executive agents was raised, which is being followed up."

The meeting continued with a report by Mr. Akbar Rezaei, Deputy Director of Hajj and Umrah of the Hajj Organization, on the conclusion of the selection of a service company for the fair price, and Dr. Seyed Ali Marashi announced that examinations of the upcoming Hajj pilgrims will begin at the end of the week.

The Head of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Medical Center also referred to the plans made to provide medicine and some equipment needed for Hajj 1404, and said, "So far, 116,500 visits have been made during the Umrah journey, and the number of deaths of Iranian Umrah pilgrims has been 25."

The Representative of the Supreme Leader for Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs also reminded of the importance of paying attention to the dynamics in all departments and programs of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, and asked the Deputy Director of Management and Resources Development of this organization to provide the necessary information about the linguists and doctors present in the caravans to the relevant deputies in the Mission and the Hajj and Pilgrimage Medical Center.

Hojjat al-Islam Navvab emphasized, "We should all be aware that we are the servants of the pilgrims and we should try to do what is right and in the best interest of the pilgrims."

In this meeting, Mr. Morteza Aghaei, Deputy Head of the Hajj Organization’s Shrines, reported on his recent trip to Iraq and the accompanying delegation, and said: During this trip, various services provided to pilgrims in the pilgrimage cities were evaluated, and overall, although we have grown compared to the past, there are also shortcomings that must be addressed.

The head of the Hajj and Umrah Organization also mentioned one of the concerns of the pilgrimage caravans of the shrines, the provision of plane tickets to send the pilgrims, and said, "The increase in prices is such that it has created problems even for the caravans that were supposed to return to the country by air."