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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
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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.

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UN Aid Chief Vows 'Ruthlessness' to Prioritize Spending, Seeks $47 Billion

Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, talks to the media about the Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 and the UN annual humanitarian appeal, during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, talks to the media about the Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 and the UN annual humanitarian appeal, during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
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UN Aid Chief Vows 'Ruthlessness' to Prioritize Spending, Seeks $47 Billion

Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, talks to the media about the Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 and the UN annual humanitarian appeal, during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, talks to the media about the Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 and the UN annual humanitarian appeal, during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

The new head of the UN humanitarian aid agency says it will be “ruthless” when prioritizing how to spend money, a nod to challenges in fundraising for civilians in war zones like Gaza, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.

Tom Fletcher, a longtime British diplomat who took up the UN post last month, said his agency is asking for less money in 2025 than this year. He said it wants to show "we will focus and target the resources we have,” even as crises grow more numerous, intense and long-lasting.

His agency, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on Wednesday issued its global appeal for 2025, seeking $47 billion to help 190 million people in 32 countries — though it estimates 305 million worldwide need help.
“The world is on fire, and this is how we put it out,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
The office and many other aid groups, including the international Red Cross, have seen donations shrink in recent years for longtime trouble spots like Syria, South Sudan, the Middle East and Congo and newer ones like Ukraine and Sudan. Aid access has been difficult in some places, especially Sudan and Gaza.
The office's appeal for $50 billion for this year was only 43% fulfilled as of last month. One consequence of that shortfall was a 80% reduction in food aid for Syria, which has seen a sudden escalation in fighting in recent days, The Associated Press reported.
Such funds go to UN agencies and more than 1,500 partner organizations.
The biggest asks for 2025 are for Syria — a total of $8.7 billion for needs both within the country and for neighbors that have taken in Syrian refugees — as well as Sudan at a total of $6 billion, the “Occupied Palestinian Territory” at $4 billion, Ukraine at about $3.3 billion and Congo at nearly $3.2 billion.
Fletcher said his office needs to be “ruthless” in choosing to reach people most in need.
“I choose that word carefully, because it's a judgement call — that ruthlessness — about prioritizing where the funding goes and where we can have the greatest impact," he said. “It's a recognition that we have struggled in previous years to raise the money we need.”
In response to questions about how much President-elect Donald Trump of the United States — the UN's biggest single donor — will spend on humanitarian aid, Fletcher said he expects to spend “a lot of time” in Washington over the next few months to talk with the new administration.
“America is very much on our minds at the moment," he said, acknowledging some governments “will be more questioning of what the United Nations does and less ideologically supportive of this humanitarian effort” laid out in the new report.
This year has been the deadliest on record for humanitarians and UN staff, largely due to the Middle East conflict triggered by Palestinian militants' deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Israel.