Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – Iran said that Saudi Arabia refused to grant entry visas to the representative of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and the head of the Iranian Hajj delegation, Abdel Fattah Al-Nawab, on the grounds that the age requirement was not met, according to the Iranian semi-official Fars Agency reported on Tuesday.
The agency stated that the Kingdom refused to grant the Hajj visa to the representatives because he is over 65 years old, and Saudi Arabia has stipulated that pilgrims wishing to perform the Hajj must not exceed this age.
Contacts were made between the two sides to reach a solution to the matter, and to issue a visa to Khamenei’s representative, but they did not succeed, according to the Iranian agency, which said that the heads of Hajj missions were supposed to be exempted from the age requirement.
The agency indicated that the deputies are 65 years and a few months old, and he was delegated the task of managing the affairs of the Iranian mission, the “Hojjat al-Islam, the religious pillar,” according to Fares’ description.
There has been no official comment yet from the Saudi side about what was published by the Iranian agency.