Official Denies Media Report on Death of Iranian Pilgrims in Iraq
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - An official with Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization dismissed an earlier media report that a number of Iranian pilgrims have been killed in a suicide bombing attack in the Iraqi province of Diyala.
Iraq's Al Hurra TV on Sunday quoted Iraqi security sources as saying that a suicide bombing in Diyala province has killed at least 10 Iranian pilgrims and wounded 30 others.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Mohsen Nezafati, an official with Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, dismissed the report as “untrue”, saying there have been no reports of any attack on Iranian pilgrims who travel to Iraq in the convoys registered by the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization.
He also added that such a report of suicide bombing has neither been confirmed about those Iranian pilgrims who travel to Iraq personally.
Iraq is the home to most of Shiite holiest shrines and the number of Shiite Muslims visiting Iraq for pilgrimages has increased recently.
Shiite pilgrims are occasionally targeted by extremists who are trying to reignite bloody sectarian conflict in Iraq.