There are no air tours to Iraq for annual Arbaeen pilgrimage and pilgrims can only travel individually to this country this year, provided they carry negative PCR test result, according to the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran’s spokesperson.
“The Arbaeen flights will start on Sept. 19 and continue until Oct. 2,” Mohammad Hassan Zibakhsh was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
“This year we do not have land tours to Iraq. Neither do we have any air tours to the neighboring country. Visas will be issued on a person-to-person basis and only if the PCR test result is negative.”
This is the second year in a row that Iranian pilgrims have been barred from traveling by road to neighboring Iraq for the Arbaeen pilgrimage.
Officials in southwestern Khuzestan Province have announced that no Iranian pilgrims would be allowed through Chazzabeh and Shalamcheh border crossings into Iraq this year.
Likewise, local authorities in western Ilam province have also closed the busy Mehran border crossing point.
Arbaeen, one of the world’s largest religious congregations, comes 40 days after Ashura, the anniversary of the day Imam Hussein (PBUH), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and his companions embraced martyrdom in the Battle of Karbala in the 7th century AD.
Pilgrims in massive numbers converge on the Iraqi city of Karbala to perform Arbaeen rituals in commemoration of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam.
Each year, Muslim pilgrims from across the world travel to Najaf, Iraq, in the weeks leading to Arbaeen and walk toward Karbala on foot.
A large majority of these pilgrims travel from Iran, which shares multiple borders with Iraq. The coronavirus pandemic, however, has disrupted the annual religious event, which will start in two weeks.
According to Zibakhsh, Iran’s quota for Arbaeen pilgrims is 30,000 people and about 400 flights are needed to transport them to Iraq.
In 2019, some 14 million pilgrims attended the event, according to official figures, which dropped significantly in 2020 after the Iraqi authorities allowed only 1,500 pilgrims per country.
With the Covid-19 pandemic still showing no signs of relief, Iraqi authorities decided to allow only 40,000 foreign pilgrims this year, 30,000 of them from Iran.
As per the guidelines issued by the Iraqi authorities, Iranian pilgrims are supposed to travel only by air, Anadolu Agency reported.
Authorities in Iran have also urged people not to flock to border checkpoints with Iraq in the coming weeks, as the traditional Arbaeen processions from Iranian border cities to Najaf have again been canceled this year.
The two countries have five official border crossings along the 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) fence.
The flights will be operated from Imam Khomeini International Airport, Mashhad’s Hasheminejad International Airport, Shiraz International Airport, Ahvaz International Airport, Tabriz International Airport and Isfahan International Airport this year.
Currently, the ticket prices of Tehran-Najaf flights by Iranian airline is about 30-40 million rials ($111-148). Tickets of foreign airlines is priced at 150-175 million rials ($555-649), IRNA reported.
It is still undecided whether unvaccinated pilgrims will be able to travel to Iraq this year.
The participation of Iranian pilgrims in Arbaeen had come up for discussions during Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian's recent visit to Iraq.
Iran, one of the worst-affected country in the region, is presently battling a fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen infections and deaths touch a record high.
