TEHRAN (AFP) — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday left Tehran for Saudi Arabia to perform the hajj, the first Iranian leader to take part in the annual Muslim pilgrimage in the history of the Islamic republic.
An AFP photographer present at the airport reported that Ahmadinejad kissed the Koran and read verses from the holy Muslim book before departing.
The website of state television said that Ahmadinejad's plane took off for the western Saudi city of Jeddah at around 08:30 am (0500 GMT).
"On this journey, as well as carrying out the holy hajj pilgrimage, I will have meetings with officials," he told state television before departing without elaborating.
"I will also meet with the great Muslim community who are present at the pilgrimage," he added.
Ahmadinejad is attending the hajj at the invitation of Saudi King Abdullah -- a highly symbolic move as the pilgrimage has in the past caused major diplomatic strains between the two regional heavyweights.
His pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, located in western Saudi Arabia, will be Ahmadinejad's third visit to the kingdom since taking office.
He visited Mecca in December 2005 for an Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit but outside of the hajj season. It is not clear whether he performed the hajj privately before becoming president.
Saudi Arabia has announced that the high point of the hajj when pilgrims converge on Mount Arafat near Mecca would take place on Tuesday, and Eid al-Adha marking the end of the pilgrimage would be celebrated the next day.
Relations have on occasion been rocky between Shiite majority Iran and Sunni majority Saudi Arabia, which also has a substantial Shiite community in its oil-rich Eastern Province.
Relations reached an all-time low in July 1987 when 402 people, mostly Iranians, were killed in clashes between Iranians and Saudi security forces during the hajj.
Riyadh was also at the time backing Saddam Hussein's Iraq in its 1980-1988 war against Iran.
Iran's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini subsequently accused the kingdom of being a lackey of the United States that was unable to look after holy sites.
But the two countries have tried to give an impression of unity in recent years, vowing to work together to end the political crisis in Lebanon and bring stability to Iraq.
It has not always been easy going -- ahead of this year's hajj, Iran has been urging Saudi Arabia to crack down on religious extremism following reports of anti-Shiite sermons and pamphlets in the kingdom.
Last month, Ahmadinejad publicly rebuked King Abdullah for the kingdom's participation in a US-hosted meeting aimed at finding peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
But he also became the first president of the Islamic republic to attend the end-of-year annual summit of Gulf Arab leaders that was held in Qatar earlier in December.
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