Decision made to fill Iran's quota for Arba'een pilgrimage

As Iraq has given its approval to the air travel of 30,000 Iranian passengers for this year’s Arba'een rituals, an Iranian official announced a decision to fill the quota in compliance with the coronavirus restrictions.

According to Tasnim news agency, in remarks after a meeting in the Iranian Interior Ministry on Monday, Hossein Zolfaqari, Director of a headquarters handling the Arba'een pilgrimage, said all Iranians permitted to travel to Iraq for the Arba'een season will have to present a negative PCR test taken at almost 72 hours before the trip, which must be made by plane.

The 30,000 Iranian pilgrims that are allowed to go to Iraq during the Arba'een season will include the members of committees that have duties in Iraq as well as those who install pavilions and congregation halls in the Arab country every year to provide food, accommodation and medical services for the pilgrims, he noted.

The Iranian applicants certified to have received both doses of COVID vaccine and not suffering from any underlying illness will be allowed to go to Iraq for Arba'een, he explained.

In 2020, Baghdad decided to bar all foreign pilgrims from visiting Iraq for the Arba'een mourning ceremonies due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Each year, millions of Shias flock to the Iraqi city of Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (PBUH) is located, to perform mourning rites 40 days after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of the third Shias' Imam.

ME