In a historic move reflecting the rapidly warming ties between long-time regional rivals, Saudi airline Flynas has resumed flights carrying Iranian Hajj pilgrims to the kingdom for the first time since 2015, Saudi aviation authorities confirmed on Saturday.
A Saudi civil aviation official, speaking on condition of anonymity to AFP, said Flynas had launched the service from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran over the weekend, with plans to expand flights from Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.
More than 35,000 Iranian pilgrims are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on Flynas flights ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which begins in the first week of June.
“These are not commercial flights. They are exclusively for the Hajj,” the official clarified, underscoring the religious and diplomatic significance of the resumption.
The return of Saudi-operated Hajj flights for Iranians comes nearly a decade after diplomatic relations between Shiite-majority Iran and Sunni-led Saudi Arabia collapsed in 2016. That year, Iranian protesters stormed Saudi diplomatic missions following the execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi authorities. In response, Riyadh severed diplomatic ties, triggering a prolonged freeze in bilateral relations.
During the severance, Iranian pilgrims were allowed to attend Hajj but could only do so via Iranian-chartered flights, limiting access and complicating logistics for thousands. The tensions were further exacerbated by the September 2015 stampede near Mecca, which claimed up to 2,300 lives, including hundreds of Iranians. The incident sparked outrage in Tehran and fueled further deterioration in bilateral ties.
The breakthrough came in March 2023, when the two countries announced the restoration of diplomatic relations in a surprise deal brokered by China. The agreement marked a dramatic shift in Middle Eastern geopolitics, setting off a series of high-level exchanges aimed at rebuilding trust and cooperation.
Since the rapprochement, both nations have appointed ambassadors and resumed diplomatic engagements.The late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a historic visit to Saudi Arabia,a holy place that is considered sacred by all muslim, In November 2023, to attend a joint Arab-Islamic summit based on the war in Gaza — the first by an persian head of state in last two decades. A month later, Iran Air resumed flights between Mashhad and the eastern Saudi city of Dammam.
In another sign of thawing relations, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman traveled to Iran in April 2025, where he held talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei .
The resumption of Hajj flights also coincides with a renewed push to resolve Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West. U.S. and Iranian officials have held at least four rounds of indirect negotiations in recent months, aimed at reviving elements of the 2015 nuclear deal. During a recent Gulf tour, U.S. President Donald Trump hinted that the two sides were “getting close” to an agreement, while also warning Tehran to act swiftly or “something bad will happen.”
Just days before Trump’s visit, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Saudi Arabia, adding another layer of significance to the growing diplomatic momentum.
Flynas, a low-cost Saudi airline operating domestic and international routes, is now at the center of this religious and political convergence. Its renewed service to Iran is being seen not just as a logistical move for the pilgrimage season, but as a symbol of a wider reconciliation effort taking hold in the region.
As pilgrims from around the world begin arriving in Mecca for the annual rites, the sight of Iranians flying on Saudi aircraft once again signals a new chapter in a once-fraught relationship — one where diplomacy, not division, is beginning to take flight.
