Iran to send pilgrims to Syria via regular weekly flights

Iran will start sending pilgrims to holy shia shrines in Syria under a deal signed with the Arab country during President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi’s visit to Damascus.

Iran’s Transportation Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash said on Wednesday that some 50,000 pilgrims will be sent to Syria from Iran per year under an agreement signed with Syrian authorities earlier in the day.

The agreement was one of 15 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed in the presence of Raeisi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the People’s Palace in Damascus.

The MoUs will enable Iran and Syria to significantly increase their trade and economic ties now that the Arab country is emerging from more than a decade of a fighting against foreign-backed militants.

Bazrpash said an average of 1,000 pilgrims will be able to travel from Iran to Syria every week to pay tribute to the holy shrines of Hazrat Zaynab and Hazrat Ruqayya (PBUT) in Damascus.

He said the visit to Syria by Iranian pilgrims will start within the next two months through three to five direct regular flights per week between Iranian cities and Damascus.

The minister said that Iran and Syria had also agreed as part of the MoUs signed on Wednesday to launch a joint bank and an insurance company to provide services to businesses involved in trade between the two countries.

He said the two sides had agreed that two banks from Iran and Syria would process payments between businesses in the meantime until the joint bank starts operating.

ME