Arbaeen March Abundant with Love, Sincere Beliefs: Leader

In a gathering here in Tehran, the Leader hailed the great ceremony of Arbaeen Walk as an unprecedented phenomenon, a great and meaningful movement, and a lasting good.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that the ceremony is abundant with faith, sincere beliefs, love and compassion.

The Leader recommended that Muslims seize the opportunity and attend the great event held to mark the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shiite Imam.

Ayatollah Khamenei further advised the Iranian pilgrims going to Iraq’s holy sites for Arbaeen to observe the departure rules, stressing, “The government has set certain regulations for exiting the country which should certainly be obeyed.”

Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary and Expatriates’ Affairs Hassan Qashqavi had also stressed the need for obeying the regulations for travelling to Iraq, announcing that visa requirements for pilgrims going to the Arab country for Arbaeen will not be waived under any circumstances.

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency in the southwestern city of Khorramshahr, Qashqavi rejected claims that crossing borders is possible without a visa, saying that visa requirements will not be lifted under any conditions.

He also pointed to the massive influx of Iranian pilgrims arriving at the country’s joint borders with Iraq, and said over 1,550,000 pilgrims have passed border crossings so far.

The Iranian diplomat went on to say that the number of pilgrims traveling to Iraq has increased by 47 percent compared with last year’s.

Each year, a huge crowd of Shiites flock to Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located, to perform mourning rites of Arbaeen, which is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world.

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