RIYADH, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia declared this Hajj season a success and confirmed that this Hajj season is opened for all Muslims including Iranians, Al Arabiya local news reported on Sunday.
Prince Khalid al-Faisal, governor of Mecca and head of pilgrimage committee announced the success of this Hajj season on Sunday while addressing a press conference.
Saudi Arabia started the Hajj pilgrimage in 2017 on Wednesday. More than 2.3 million pilgrims, including 1.8 million foreigners, are estimated to have performed the ritual.
Iranians performed Hajj this season after their country banned them from coming to Saudi Arabia last season as tensions led to severing political and diplomatic ties between the two countries in 2016.
Hajj is the most important ritual among Muslims in the world, as almost all Muslims should perform it at least once in a lifetime. The Hajj-related worships will continue until Sept. 4.
Al-Faisal said that Saudi Arabia is focused on providing the best services to pilgrims, despite the conflicts and crisis in the region, with regard to the Saudi Vision 2030 to increase the number of pilgrims and Umrah to 30 million.
