Shafaq News- Tehran

More than 3.33 million Iranian pilgrims traveled to Iraq for Arbaeen*, with about 1.03 million still in the country, Iran’s Central Arbaeen Committee chief Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian said on Tuesday.

Speaking during an inspection of the Shahid Raisi terminal at the Mehran border crossing in western Iran, Pourjamshidian put the return rate at about 69%, adding that services would continue at border crossings and along return routes until the remaining pilgrims returned safely.

Iraq’s Arbaeen operations command had reported on August 3 that 4,887,660 foreign pilgrims had entered the country since the beginning of the Islamic month of Muharram.

Read more: ~50°C heat fails to halt Karbala’s free Arbaeen services

* Arbaeen, observed 40 days after Ashura, commemorates Imam Hussein bin Ali, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and third Shia Imam, who was killed alongside relatives and companions in the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE.