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Pilgrims at the Great Mosque of Mecca, August 7, 2019. REUTERS / Waleed Ali

Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, begins this Friday, August 9, in Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world: more than 2 million Muslims are expected there, against the backdrop of intense tensions in the Gulf.

Attacks on tankers , tankers boarded in the Gulf region; Saudi Arabia accuses Iran's great rival of being responsible, while Tehran denies; Tehran also blacklisted by the United States ... the tension is high in the Persian Gulf ...

But the tension in the Gulf will not prevent some 88,550 Iranians to go to Mecca, on the more than 2 million pilgrims expected. Iranians are among the most represented visitors, after Indonesians, Pakistanis or Indians.

Every Muslim has a duty to make this pilgrimage once in his life, if he has the means. Mecca is the holy city which, according to tradition, saw the birth of Islam and its prophet Muhammad. Each year, the faithful go there to perform a series of specific rituals for 5 days.

This gathering is a challenge for the Saudi authorities who have to deal with very high temperatures and the big crowd. In 2015, a huge scramble had killed more than 2,000 people. Since the security measures have been strengthened.