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DUBAI. – Iran said yesterday its pilgrims would not attend the annual Muslim Haj pilgrimage, blaming regional rival Saudi Arabia for “sabotage” and failing to guarantee the safety of pilgrims.

Saudi Arabia, which oversees the pilgrimage to Mecca by more than two million Muslims from around the world, accused Iran of effectively depriving its citizens from the religious duty by refusing to sign a memorandum reached after talks with Iran’s Haj and Pilgrimage Organisation.

Relations between the two Gulf powers plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush in last year’s Haj and after Riyadh broke diplomatic ties when its Tehran embassy was stormed in January over the Saudi execution of a Shi’ite cleric. – Reuters.