TEHRAN: Iran imposed a ban on Wednesday on all pilgrimages to the Muslim holy places in Saudi Arabia during the fasting month of Ramadan in a bid to control swine flu, health authorities said.

"We will have no pilgrims in Saudi Arabia during the month of Ramadan," expected to run from August 22 to September 19, the ISNA news agency quoted Health Minister Mohammad Bagher Lankarani as saying.

The state television website also quoted a senior health ministry official as saying that no Iranian pilgrim would be in Saudi Arabia from August 22.

The main pilgrimage season, called the hajj which this year is expected to begin on November 19, draws hundreds of thousands of Iranian pilgrims every year and is a religious obligation for every Muslim with the health and means.

But the faithful can also make the so-called lesser pilgrimage or umrah throughout the year, and numbers traditionally rise during Ramadan.

Iran has so far reported just over 130 cases of the A/H1N1 flu strain, the majority of them among returning pilgrims.

A string of Muslim countries around the world have announced restrictions on pilgrimages to the Saudi holy places amid fears about the risk of contagion if large numbers congregate there and then return home.