Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei says the purpose of hajj is to unify the Islamic Ummah against disbelief and oppression.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks during a meeting with a group of hajj officials at Imam Khomeini Hussayniah in southern Tehran on Wednesday morning before they begin dispatching pilgrims from the country to Saudi Arabia for the annual rituals of hajj.

“The purpose of hajj is to unify the Islamic Ummah against disbelief, oppression, arrogance, and human and non-human idols,” he noted.

He also said “culture-building” should be done in introducing the fundamental concepts of hajj to people.

“I insist that the respected hajj officials develop the culture in these fields,” he said.

“Make sure that whenever the hajj is mentioned, concepts such as civilization-building, global unity, cross-border and international perspective, and elimination of discrimination occur to today’s young person.” Ayatollah Khamenei added that culture-building should be done by the clerics who are in the hajj caravans and also hajj officials.

Beginning next week, 89,000 pilgrims from 21 Iranian provinces will be dispatched from Iran to Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj this year.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Supreme Leader said one of the worldly benefits of hajj is that Muslims in this huge gathering declare their presence and power against the Zionist regime and the influence of arrogant powers, and stand up to the oppressors of the world.

“The days of hajj are a great opportunity to get to know the nations and global issues so that the false news of the media and lying news agencies do not lead people away from the realities of the world and deceive them,” he said.

“If we are aware of global issues, we can understand the enemy’s real objective and the reason for its insistence on some issues.

As in many issues, the officials have been careful and have acted correctly, and Iran’s very good advancements in regional and global issues, which have angered America, have been the result of this attentiveness,” Ayatollah Khamenei added