Riyadh refuted Tehran's assertions. According to a statement carried by state-run news website Sabq, an agreement for arrangements for this year's haj was not signed due to Tehran's demands, which include the granting of visas inside Iran and transport arrangements that would evenly split the pilgrims between Saudi and Iranian airlines.
"The arrangements have not been put together and it's now too late," the statement reads.
Tehran's Islamic Guidance and Culture Minister Ali Jannati, as cited by Iran's official IRNA news agency, insisted "We did whatever we could but it was the Saudis who sabotaged it."
Ties between the two Middle East countries were severed after Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran were ransacked in response to the execution of prominent Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr in the Sunni-led kingdom. Talks on the issue were held but the countries have not resolved the rift.