JEDDAH: Around 2 million pilgrims arrived in the Holy Land from outside and inside the Kingdom in preparation to set out from Makkah for Mina.
They will retrace the noble tradition of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and spend the Tarwiyah Day on Sunday in Mina. Here they will make final preparations for the Standing (Wuquf) at Arafat, which marks the climax of the annual pilgrimage, on Monday.
To be able to serve the pilgrims and enable them to perform Hajj rituals with ease and comfort, the government and private sectors concerned with Hajj and pilgrim affairs intensify their preparations, under the direct supervision of Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, adviser to King Salman, the governor of Makkah region and chairman of the Central Hajj Committee, and followed up by his deputy, Prince Abdullah bin Bandar.
The Ministry of Health will provide intensive and continuous health services supported by skillful human cadres and state-of-the-art medical technologies, in order to provide the best health services for pilgrims. The Ministry of Health has employed a total of 29,495 physicians, pharmacists, nurses and technicians to provide extensive health care to the pilgrims.
According to the ministry, its manpower during the Hajj consists of 780 consultants in various medical specializations, 1,248 specialists; 2,718 general practitioners; 1,428 pharmacists; 3,553 nurses; 1,173 technicians and lab specialists; 198 specialists in nutrition; 5,587 administrators; 165 engineers; and 1,491 ambulance drivers.
The General Presidency of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque will operate and maintain all technical devices and systems of lighting, air-conditioning and ventilation, sound and control systems, cameras, communication devices and electrical stairs, buildings and libraries in the Two Holy Mosques.
Air-conditioning has been installed in the basement and ground floor and many other areas. Thousands of fans have been installed in the Two Holy Mosques and their yards.
The area around the Two Holy Mosques has been equipped with more than 8,441 toilets, as well as more than 6,000 ablution units. All power supply lines have been prepared to make sure there is power 24/7.
More than 10,000 male and female employees will be available to follow up on work and monitor it during Ramadan, in addition to a large number of cleaners.
Among the services also provided by the Presidency are translation of Friday sermons into 10 languages, organization of various scientific programs, and competitions.
A total of 210 doors in the Grand Mosque and 100 doors in the Prophet’s Mosque have been prepared, as well as 28 escalators in the Grand Mosque and four escalators in the Prophet’s Mosque. There are 38 doors for people with special needs and seven for women.
The Saudi Red Crescent deployed 127 emergency centers, 361 ambulances, 20 motorbikes, and more than 1,861 people to work in the ranges of Makkah and Madinah.
There will be 22 operational hospitals in Madinah and the holy sites, 15 temporary emergency centers, supported with more than 87 ambulances and 653 paramedics.
The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs mobilized its human and mechanical capabilities to enable pilgrims to perform their duties in a safe and healthy environment by employing more than 26,000 individuals and 717 mechanisms to implement the hygiene plan in Makkah and the holy sites, as well as specialized field teams to control 33,069 food facilities in Makkah.
Civil defense teams will be deployed around the clock to deal with all emergency cases, where the injuries will be transferred using stretchers and wheelchairs to several medical evacuation sites inside and outside the mosque.
These teams will also be carrying out extraction and rescue operations inside the Holy Mosque and the surrounding area, in addition to providing urgent first aid, and transferring critical cases to the nearest hospitals and health centers, in coordination with the Red Crescent teams around the Holy Mosque. The Hajj security forces leaderships announced their readiness to maintain the security and safety of pilgrims during the pilgrimage season.
The General Command of the Air General Security is supported by all the security services and various government sectors.
In preparation for the Hajj season, the Saudi General Security Aviation Command announced that it has started implementing the first phase of its security plan to ensure the safety of pilgrims in the Kingdom. The aviation command will commence security operations over the holy sites, where special helicopters will monitor the activities surrounding the Hajj season this year. The planes are stationed in the designated locations in Makkah and Madinah from various bases to carry out the tasks assigned to them, namely traffic and security, logistical support for other security bodies, humanitarian services and the monitoring of pilgrims not following the rules.
All eyes on Mina as Hajj begins today
All eyes on Mina as Hajj begins today
Saudi Arabia has told Iran not to attack it, warns of possible retaliation, sources say
Saudi Arabia has told Tehran that while it favors a diplomatic settlement to Iran’s conflict with the United States, continued attacks on the kingdom and its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The message was conveyed before a speech on Saturday in which Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized to neighboring Gulf states for Tehran’s actions – an apparent attempt to defuse regional anger over Iranian strikes that hit civilian targets.
Two days earlier, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and set out Riyadh’s position with clarity, the sources said.
Saudi Arabia is open to any form of mediation aimed at de‑escalation and a negotiated settlement, the sources quoted the minister as saying, underlining that neither Riyadh nor other Gulf states had let the US use their airspace or territory to launch airstrikes on Iran.
But Prince Faisal was also quoted by the sources as saying that if Iranian attacks persisted against Saudi territory or energy infrastructure, Saudi Arabia would be forced to permit US forces to use their bases there for military operations. Riyadh would retaliate if attacks on the kingdom’s critical energy facilities continued, he said.
The sources said the kingdom had remained in regular contact with Tehran through its ambassador since the US and Israeli military campaign against Iran began on February 28 following the collapse of talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministries did not respond to requests for comment.
Drone and missile attacks on Gulf states
The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have all come under heavy drone and missile fire from Iran over the past week.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on the first day of the war. Tehran responded by hitting Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting US military installations, and Israel has attacked Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group.
Araghchi said in an interview on Saturday that he remained in constant contact with his Saudi counterpart and other Saudi officials, adding that Riyadh had assured Tehran it was fully committed to not allowing its territory, waters or airspace to be used for attacks against Iran.
Pezeshkian said Iran’s temporary leadership council had approved suspending attacks on nearby countries – unless an attack on Iran came from those nations.
“I personally apologize to neighboring countries that were affected by Iran’s actions,” he said.
To what extent Pezeshkian’s remarks signal a change is unclear. There were further reports of strikes directed at Gulf states on Saturday.
Also, in a sign of possible divisions within Iran’s leadership, Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters – the unified combatant command of the Iranian armed forces – said in a statement afterwards that US and Israeli bases and interests across the region would remain targets.
The command said Iran’s armed forces respected the sovereignty and interests of neighboring states and had not taken action against them so far. But it said US and Israeli military bases and assets on land, at sea and in the air across the region would be treated as primary targets and face “powerful and heavy” strikes by Iran’s forces.
US President Donald Trump said in a social media post that Iran had “apologized and surrendered to its Middle East neighbors, and promised that it will not shoot at them anymore. This promise was only made because of the relentless US and Israeli attack.”
Two Iranian sources confirmed that a call had taken place in which Riyadh warned Tehran to halt attacks on Saudi Arabia and neighboring Gulf states. Iran, they said, reiterated its position that the strikes were not aimed at Gulf countries themselves but at US interests and military bases hosted on their territory.
One Iranian source said that Tehran had in response demanded that US bases in the region be closed and some Gulf states stop sharing intelligence with Washington that Iran believes is being used to carry out attacks against it.
Another Iranian source said some military commanders were pressing to continue the strikes, accusing the US of using bases in Gulf states and these countries’ airspace to conduct operations against Iran.
Iran had in recent years mended fences with its Gulf neighbors, including former regional archrival Saudi Arabia. The diplomatic campaign imploded in the blitz of drones and missiles launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the past week.
