Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution met this morning with officials in charge of this year's hajj affairs. Speaking at the meeting, His Eminence referred to the Syrian unrest and stated that the Islamic Republic's position on the Syrian issue is completely clear. He added: "The truth of the Syrian issue is that the camp of the arrogant powers is trying to destroy the link that connects the chain of resistance in the region and is located next to the borders of the usurping Zionist regime."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the solution to the Syrian crisis is to prevent weapons from being pumped into Syria and reiterated: "In any country, if opposition forces are provided with weapons from outside the country, the ruling system will naturally confront them."

His Eminence added: "If the opposition forces in Syria put their weapons down, there will be an opportunity for them to demand of the government to listen to them and let them announce their positions."

Ayatollah Khamenei referred to hajj as an exceptional obligation and stressed the necessity of unity in the world of Islam. He stated that hajj reveals unity, greatness and diversity of the world of Islam and added that it is necessary to make the best of the capacity of hajj.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that hajj consists of worship and solemn praying as well as political and social presence. He reiterated: "Until before the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iranian hajj pilgrims were only concerned about performing hajj rituals in the right way. This is while this massive and exceptional gathering includes other important aspects such as diversity, greatness and unity of the Muslim world, which can launch a new movement for improving the individual and society and for bringing about Islamic unity. And this noble outlook should be communicated to non-Iranian hajj pilgrims as well."

His Eminence highlighted the importance of unity between Shia and Sunni Muslims and added that Shia-Sunni differences are not a recent development and that they have existed for a long time. "But in recent years, these differences have increased in an unusual way which shows that efforts are being made to increase differences in the Islamic world."