Tourism officials from Iran's Khorasan Razavi Province and Iraq's Wasit Governorate reached agreements on strengthening ties particularly regarding pilgrimage to holy Shia Muslim sites during a meeting on Saturday.
The Iraqi delegation met with their counterparts at the provincial office of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization in Khorasan Razavi, Iran's key pilgrimage hub, to discuss the plans, CHTN reported.
"Religious tourism is a strong potential that is capable of flourishing by drawing on the tourist market of the neighboring Iraq," Abolfazl Mokarramifar, head of the provincial ICHHTO, said. Thanks to the shared border in the west of Iran, Wasit sends numerous travelers to the country. "This is a golden opportunity to pave the way for promoting religious trips across the borders," he said.
Pilgrimage at Center Stage
Mahmud Molla Talal, Wasit's governor general, also expressed hope that the agreement will open a new chapter in tourism relations between the two countries and emphasized that Iraq can mutually increase its reception of Iranian pilgrims.
"Iraq has long played host to Iranian pilgrims and this can be further extended," Talal said.
Last year, he added, over 35,000 people from Khorasan Razavi crossed the Mehran border to observe rituals in Karbala on Arbaeen, which marks the end of 40 days of mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein [PBUH] in the Battle of Karbala (680 AD).
"The capacity can be increased to over 250,000 travelers," the Iraqi official said.
The imminent launch of a direct flight between Mashhad and Basra is also believed to help the development of relations.
Reportedly, arrangements have been made for the initiation of the route and it is expected to start operation within two weeks.
"The flight is an efficient tool to raise the number of incoming tourists from Iraq," Mokarramifar said.
The officials agreed to ease access to air, rail and road transport for travelers, provide better touring services by travel agencies, facilitate medical tourism and make available sufficient lodging space for visitors.
Furthermore, offering discounts on all travel services and honorary presence of Iraqi representatives in Mashhad International Tourism Exhibition (slated for September 2-6), are among the provisions of the agreements.
Reportedly, the general outlines of the agreements have been endorsed by the two sides and the tourism officials should now get together to work out a detailed deal to usher in the practical stage. Wasit is a governorate in eastern Iraq, southeast of the capital Baghdad and bordering Iran. It is where the key Mehran border crossing is located making it significant for Iran in terms of travel ties.
