DUBAI, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Iran hopes technical problems preventing Iranian Muslims from making the Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia will soon be resolved, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday.

Iran initially announced in December that the first Umrah pilgrims would travel on Dec. 19 following an agreement between Tehran and Riyadh to allow the pilgrimage to take place after a pause of eight years.

However, this flight and subsequent ones were cancelled due to Riyadh failing to provide “necessary final permits” for the entry of Iranian planes into Saudi airports, the spokesman of Iran Air Hessam Qorbanali had told state TV.