Iranian pilgrims will not be barred from Saudi Arabia

JEDDAH: Iranian pilgrims will not be barred from visiting Makkah and Madinah, either for the annual Haj or at other times of year on the umrah pilgrimage, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said.
Saudi Arabia will end air traffic and trade links with the Islamic republic and demanding that Tehran must “act like a normal country” before it would restore severed diplomatic relations.
Al-Jubeir said Tehran was responsible for rising tensions after the kingdom executed Shiite preacher Nimr Al-Nimr on Saturday, describing him as a terrorist.
Insisting Riyadh would react to “Iranian aggression,” Jubeir accused Tehran of despatching fighters to Arab countries and plotting attacks inside the kingdom and its Gulf neighbors.
“There is no escalation on the part of Saudi Arabia. Our moves are all reactive. It is the Iranians who went into Lebanon. It is the Iranians who sent their Qods Force and their Revolutionary Guards into Syria,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, Bahrain and Sudan severed diplomatic ties with Iran and UAE reduced its diplomatic status with the Persian country.

—With input from Reuters