Iran-Hajj-Ceremony
Disavowal of Pagans ritual started in this sacred desert on Tuesday attended by a huge group of Iranian pilgrims.

The pilgrims chanted anti-US and anti-Zionist slogans during the ceremony also attended by the Supreme Leader's representative for Hajj affairs, Hojatoleslam Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri.

"God is Great," "There is no Deity but Allah," "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" were among the slogans chanted by the masses in unison as they gathered in the Desert of Arafat, 20 km (12 miles) from Mecca, for a day of prayer and meditation.

The faithful -- men clad in two-piece seamless white shrouds and women all covered except for their hands and faces to symbolize equality -- converged on Arafat by bus and on foot from the tent city of Mina, where they spent the night.

The Supreme Leader's message for the Haj pilgrims is to be read by Reyshahri during the ceremony.

A resolution will be issued by the pilgrims at the end of the ceremony.