Minister: Iran to Bring Number of Arbaeen Pilgrims to 1.5 Million

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Sunday meeting held to study the quality of services provided by the Iranian government for the pilgrims traveled to Iraq for Arbaeen earlier this month, Rahmani Fazli said the Islamic Republic has plans to provide further services for 1.5 million pilgrims next year. 

“Given our performance in providing health, food and accommodation services for the pilgrims (in Karbala) and based on the reports, we are able to provide services for 1.5 million pilgrims in the next year’s Arbaeen,” he said.

The Arbaeen mourning event, which is held to mark the 40th day after the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS), is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world and fell on December 13 this year.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian official said that the government plans to facilitate the movement of pilgrims by construction projectgs and building further roads.

He added that to that end, the construction of a bridge over Arvand Rud as well as a railroad linking Najaf to Karbala has been raised by the Iraqi government and Iran is considering the projects.

Earlier this month, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the spokesman for the Iranian administration, had said that the country plans to connect its railroad network to Iraq's in a bid to facilitate the movement of pilgrims.

This year, around 20 million pilgrims from all over the world gathered in Karbala to attend the mourning ceremonies marking Arbaeen.

Each year, pilgrims, mainly from Iraq and Iran, travel long routes on foot to Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located.

More than 1.2 million pilgrims flocked to Iraq this year from Iran alone to perform the mourning rituals.