More than 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage, one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The annual Hajj pilgrimage officially began on Monday. Pilgrims are enduring sweltering heat during the Hajj. Regional tensions are present during the Hajj, including a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war. Security concerns linked to the conflict in the Middle East are present. According to TASS, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics reported that 1,506,576 men and women arrived in the Kingdom from other countries for the 2025 Hajj pilgrimage. The BBC reported that Saudi Arabia said the number of foreign pilgrims this year is 11,000 more than last year.