Iran Says Committed to Hajj Agreement with Riyadh

Muslim pilgrims pray around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque ahead of the annual Hajj in Makkah, September 22. Reuters
Muslim pilgrims pray around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque ahead of the annual Hajj in Makkah, September 22. Reuters
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Iran Says Committed to Hajj Agreement with Riyadh

Muslim pilgrims pray around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque ahead of the annual Hajj in Makkah, September 22. Reuters
Muslim pilgrims pray around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque ahead of the annual Hajj in Makkah, September 22. Reuters

Riyadh- Upon the arrival of 23,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, an official from the Iranian pilgrimage office announced his country’s commitment to bilateral agreements signed with Riyadh, covering the pilgrims’ arrival to the airport, the days they will pass at the holy sites and finally their departure.

The official also expressed gratitude for the good services and treatment presented to the Iranian mission in Jeddah and Medina airports.

During a phone call with Asharq Al-Awsat, executive assistant at the office Nasser Hawsawi said that the last Iranian mission is expected to arrive at the kingdom on the third of Zulhijja, making a total of 86,000 Iranian pilgrims.

Hawsawi denied any different points of view between Saudi Arabia and Iran on Hajj-related topics.

The insistence of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization of Iran in 2016 to carry out some rituals unrelated to Hajj led to Iran's rejection to sign the Hajj agreement with the Kingdom, depriving Iranian pilgrims from performing Hajj.

In response to a question on what has been agreed upon with the Saudis, Hawsawi stated that “the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization of Iran has notified hajj convoys of the agreement and they will commit to it.”

He added that the Iranian convoys are well known for their organization, discipline, potentials and residence.

Commenting on the bilateral agreement to transport Iranian pilgrims, Hawsawi noted that Saudi Arabian Airlines and Iran Air are the exclusive carriers of Iranian pilgrims.



Australia Says Will Not Commit Troops in Advance to Any Conflict

Residential properties are seen near the Sydney Harbour Bridge in, Sydney, Australia, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Residential properties are seen near the Sydney Harbour Bridge in, Sydney, Australia, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
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Australia Says Will Not Commit Troops in Advance to Any Conflict

Residential properties are seen near the Sydney Harbour Bridge in, Sydney, Australia, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Residential properties are seen near the Sydney Harbour Bridge in, Sydney, Australia, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams

Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said on Sunday, responding to a report that the Pentagon has pressed its ally to clarify what role it would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan.

Australia prioritizes its sovereignty and "we don't discuss hypotheticals", Conroy said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"The decision to commit Australian troops to a conflict will be made by the government of the day, not in advance but by the government of the day," he said.

The Financial Times reported on Saturday that Elbridge Colby, the US under-secretary of defense for policy, has been pressing Australian and Japanese officials on what they would do in a Taiwan conflict, although the US does not offer a blank cheque guarantee to defend Taiwan.

Colby posted on X that the Department of Defense is implementing President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda of restoring deterrence, which includes "urging allies to step up their defense spending and other efforts related to our collective defense".

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking in Shanghai at the start of a six-day visit to China that is likely to focus on security and trade, said Canberra did not want any change to the status quo on Taiwan.

Conroy said Australia was concerned about China's military buildup of nuclear and conventional forces, and wants a balanced Indo-Pacific region where no country dominates. He said China was seeking a military base in the Pacific, which was not in Australia's interest, Reuters reported.

'GOAL IS NO WAR'

Talisman Sabre, Australia's largest war-fighting exercise with the United States, opened on Sunday on Sydney Harbour and will involve 40,000 troops from 19 countries, including Japan, South Korea, India, Britain, France and Canada.

Conroy said China's navy might be watching the exercise to collect information, as it had done in the past.

The war games will span thousands of kilometers from Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island to the Coral Sea on Australia's east coast, in a rehearsal of joint war fighting, said Vice Admiral Justin Jones, chief of joint operations for the Australian Defense Force.

The air, sea, land and space exercises over two weeks will "test our ability to move our forces into the north of Australia and operate from Australia", Jones told reporters.

"I will leave it to China to interpret what 19 friends, allies and partners wanting to operate together in the region means to them. But for me... it is nations that are in search of a common aspiration for peace, stability, a free and open Indo-Pacific," he said.

US Army Lieutenant General Joel Vowell, deputy commanding general for the Pacific, said Talisman Sabre would improve the readiness of militaries to respond together and was "a deterrent mechanism because our ultimate goal is no war".

"If we could do all this alone and we could go fast, but because we want to go far, we have to do it together and that is important because of the instability that is resident in the region," Vowell said.

The United States is Australia's major security ally. Although Australia does not permit foreign bases, the US military is expanding its rotational presence and fuel stores on Australian bases, which from 2027 will have US Virginia submarines at port in Western Australia.