An official at national Iranian airlines IranAir has announced that all flights to carry Umrah pilgrims from Iran to Saudi Arabia are called off due to not receiving permission from the host country.

According to The Iran Project,“We’re still waiting for receiving it,” Hessam Qorbanali, the director general of public relations office of IranAir (HOMA), told IRNA on Wednesday.

Although coordination in the issue had already been ensured between the two coutnries, it has not been implemented yet because of legal and technical complications with the related procedure, the official added.

He went on to say that such a permission is needed for arrival of all Iranian airlines including IranAir and Meraj in Saudi Arabia.

In the last day of December, 2023, Iran announced it will begin to send Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the first time after nine years, months after a rapprochement deal with Riyadh in March the same year.

According to the Iranian officials, near 62,000 pilgrims are to be sent to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah this year.

Umrah or lesser pilgrimage is a visit to shrines in Saudi Arabia. The pilgrimage is not compulsory like Hajj.