TEHRAN: Iran has sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia to hold talks on Hajj pilgrimage, state media reported on Thursday.

“The delegation, including officials of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization and representatives of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left for Saudi Arabia late on Tuesday at the invitation of Saudi officials,” the television said.

Tehran boycotted the Muslim pilgrimage last year after hundreds of Iranian people died in a crush at the 2015 pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Ties worsened further when Riyadh executed a Shia cleric in January 2016, angry Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

Iran’s Islamic guidance and culture minister Reza Salehi Amiri said in an interview that Tehran was seeking guarantees to ensure the “dignity and safety” of the pilgrims before it agrees for the resumption of its participation in the pilgrimage, which starts this year in late August.