The Iranian Chargé d'Affaires in Riyadh, Hussein Sadeqi, was declared persona non grata and had to leave Saudi Arabia within 48 hours. In this situation, Parviz Afshari became iranian chargé d'affaires in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). For the 1988 pilgrimage, the Saudi government cut the 150,000 to 45,000 visas for Iranian pilgrims to Mecca and broke diplomatic relations.[1][2]