The decision was made at a joint session of the Majlis Health Committee and officials from the Health Ministry on Sunday morning.
The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam — and all able-bodied Muslims are required to perform it at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it. It attracts about 3 million people to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina annually. Hundreds of thousands more Muslims also perform umrah, the voluntary pilgrimage that can be completed at any other time of the year.
Nearly half a million Iranian citizens visit Mecca and Medina annually to perform umrah.
“Umrah was canceled for Iranians in the holy month of Ramadan,” the Majlis Health Committee deputy chairman Hosseinali Shahriari said on Monday, blaming the rapid spread of the H1N1 virus in Saudi Arabia for the cancelation.
Flu cases hit 105 in Iran
A number of 105 people have been diagnosed with the swine flu in Iran, an official at the Health Ministry said on Monday.
Iran's first swine flu case was a 16-year-old Iranian-American boy, who tested positive for the virus upon his arrival in Tehran on June 22.
Health officials have announced the victims are mostly among those individuals who have returned home from the hajj pilgrimage or travels to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Syria, Iraq, and the U.S.
The disease is spreading rapidly over the world. Latest figures have revealed that 160 out of 193 WHO member-states are struggling with the A/H1N1 flu virus, which has claimed the lives of some 800 individuals worldwide.
SN/PA
MNA
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