TEHRAN – On Monday, first batches of Iranian Hajj pilgrims departed from nine airports for Saudi Arabia.

The Imam Khomeini Airport City (IKAC), for its part, has started a 24-day handling project of Hajj flights to dispatch 30,000 pilgrims, who are from provinces of Tehran, Qom, Alborz, Qazvin, Lorestan, and Kordestan, as well as cities of Arak and Kashan. The process will be continued until August 5, according to the IKAC.

A ceremony was held at the airport to bid farewell to the first batches of Iranian Hajj pilgrims that was attended by the Leader's representative in charge of hajj affairs, Hojjatoleslam Abolhasan Navab, head of Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, Alireza Rashidian, CEO of Imam Khomeini Intl. Airport, Ali Rostami, and head of the Civil Aviation Organization, Ali Abedzadeh, the report said.

This year, some 86,550 Iranians will travel to Mecca to perform the religious pilgrimage.

Performing Hajj is compulsory on every Muslim at least once in their life. It is one of the largest annual gathering of human beings on earth, with approximately three million people gathering each year for three to five days between the eighth and 12th of Dhul-Hijjah, the last month of the Muslim calendar.

The pilgrimage has been occurring annually since 630 CE when the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) led his followers from Medina to Mecca.

AFM/MG