Hoja-ol-Islam Rouhani made the remark in a meeting on Thursday with the officials of the Supreme Leader’s Representative Office in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs and the Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs Organization.
He underlined that the enormous potential of Hajj, the greatest gathering of Muslims, should be used to bring Muslim nations and countries closer together.
Hojat-ol-Islam Rouhani also urged for proper planning to hold this year’s Hajj better and more gloriously. He said Iranian Hajj pilgrims should be ambassadors of the Islamic Republic of Iran and try to introduce the Iranian and Shia culture in that great gathering.
He further said that people’s affairs should be handed over to people themselves, stressing that except a few issues that are necessary to be handled by the government, other aspects of Hajj and pilgrimage trips should be handled by the private sector.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the president highlighted the common interests and commonalities between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia, calling for expansion of relations between the two brotherly countries.
Before the president’s speech, Head of the Iranian Hajj Mission Hojat-ol-Islam Qaziasgar presented a report about the preparations for this year’s Hajj.
Hajj is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world. It is obligatory for this pilgrimage to be carried out by every able bodied Muslim at least once in their lifetime if they can afford to do so.