Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization (IHPO) will facilitate pilgrimage to the Iraqi holy city of Karbala on Arba’een, the 40th day after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussain (AS), said Saeid Ohadi, head of IHPO.
On the measures taken to prepare for the influx of Iranian pilgrims for the occasion in early December, he said nearly 100 passport control gates have been set up at Mehran border crossing in the western province of Ilam, and 50 inside Iraq to facilitate the crossing of pilgrims and their return.”
The Arba’een mourning ceremony is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. Each year, pilgrims from many countries, namely Iraq and Iran, travel long distances (hundreds and thousands of Iranians on foot) to Karbala, where the holy shrine of the third Shia imam is located.
