-- With barely a week to go before the peak of annual Hajj pilgrimage, all 64,307 Iranian Hajjis arrived in the holy city of Mecca, gearing up to perform Hajj rituals.
The last Jeddah-bound flight carrying the last group of Iranian Hajj pilgrims landed on Saturday and at the same time the rest of 2,026 pilgrims, who were staying in Medina to pray in the Prophet Mosque and paying homage to the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and his household buried in the Baqia Cemetery, got to Mecca by bus to join hundreds of thousands of other Muslims to undertake the Hajj ceremonies.
All pilgrims must move to Mount Arafat , 24 km southeast of Mecca, to stay in the area from noon to dusk a day before the Eid al-Adha or Feast of Sacrifice (Dhu al-Hijjah 10) which marks the climax of the Major Hajj.
The feast, which falls this year on November 27, is celebrated by millions of Muslims around the world in remembrance of Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son to God.
On this day many Muslims along with all Hajj pilgrims slaughter sheep, goats, camels or cattle for the sake of God and distribute the meat among the poor as an Islamic tradition.
As many as 2.5 Muslims from around the world are expected to conduct the Hajj.
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