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Haj row escalates as Iran and Saudi Arabia miss new deal
Source: Reuters
World | Sat May 28, 2016 6:25am EDT
Haj row escalates as Iran and Saudi Arabia miss new deal
An Iranian delegation has left Saudi Arabia without an agreement for its citizens to attend the Muslim haj pilgrimage this year, Saudi media have reported, a second failure by the rival Middle East powers to strike a deal.
Relations between the two countries plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush during last year's haj and after Riyadh broke diplomatic ties when its Tehran embassy was stormed in January over the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite cleric.
The dispute has provided another arena for discord between the conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the revolutionary Shi'ite republic of Iran, which back opposing sides in Syria and other conflicts across the region.
"At dawn on Friday, the Iranian mission expressed its desire to leave to home without signing the minutes of arrangements," the official Saudi Press Agency reported late on Friday.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Haj row escalates as Iran and Saudi Arabia miss new deal
An Iranian delegation has left Saudi Arabia without an agreement for its citizens to attend the Muslim haj pilgrimage this year, Saudi media have reported, a second failure by the rival Middle East powers to strike a deal.
Relations between the two countries plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush during last year's haj and after Riyadh broke diplomatic ties when its Tehran embassy was stormed in January over the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite cleric.
The dispute has provided another arena for discord between the conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the revolutionary Shi'ite republic of Iran, which back opposing sides in Syria and other conflicts across the region.
"At dawn on Friday, the Iranian mission expressed its desire to leave to home without signing the minutes of arrangements," the official Saudi Press Agency reported late on Friday.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-islam-haj-saudi-iran-idUSKCN0YJ09P
