Hajj

The announcement is expected to come during Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia later this week, the official said. Biden has made it a focus to integrate Israel into the broader Gulf region.

Pilgrims clad in white robes climbed the rocky Mount of Mercy, which oversees the plain of Arafat where the Prophet Mohammad held his last sermon.

"The Zionists have always been a plague, even before establishing the fraudulent Zionist regime," the Iranian leader said.

"This is a huge accomplishment for us and it is the biggest pride to be in the service of religion, the country, and the guests of God".

Islam’s sacred pilgrimage will be limited to 60,000 people already present in the kingdom due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Saudi Arabia's coronavirus infection count passed 200,000 on Monday, as the number of new cases continues to climb following the lifting of the curfew last month.

The announcement means this will be the first year in modern times that Muslims from around the world have not been allowed to make the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

Considering that Saudi Arabia has not officially announced its position on this year's hajj, registration and selections have gone on as they had in previous years.

Saudi Arabia stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam's holiest sites and organizing a peaceful haj, which has been marred in the past by deadly stampedes, fires and riots.

“To the pilgrims, and to the entire Muslim world, we wish a blessed Hajj," COGAT's head, Maj.-Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun, said.