Iran Hajj Organization announced on last month that Iranians need to pay extra $4000 for traveling to Saudi Arabia for Hajj purposes. Many Iranians have registered their names for Hajj, but the announcement made hopeful pilgrims to withdraw their deposits from local banks.
“Unfortunately, the new model of pricing is not acceptable for many people. We understand the common problems in country, but Hajj Organization doesn’t have any other option to go with at this time. We have to increase the prices of Hajj travels due to currency volatilities in Iranian markets.” Hujjat-ol- Islam Seyyed Ali Ghazi Askar, Head of Iran’s Organization for Hajj Affairs, told local media on Sunday.
“We have held several meetings and sessions with the officials of Central Bank of Iran with regard to the necessary hard-currencies for covering the costs of Hajj. Currently, CBI is not able to provide enough currency to Hajj Organization. Due to these problems, Hajj Organization should buy its necessary currencies from free markets. This has led to current growth in Hajj prices.” Seyyed Ali Ghazi Askar added.
Accordingly, more than 10 million Iranians have registered their names to visit Saudi Arabia. 20,000 pilgrims failed to finalize their journey to Saudi Arabia this year because of skyrocketing of prices.
Seyyed Ali Ghazi Askar promised to work hard in order to resolve Iranians’ problems with regard to Hajj prices. According to local media reports, he will inform Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of the current problems in near future.