Shafaq News- Karbala

Nearly two million foreign pilgrims have entered Iraq to observe the Arbaeen commemoration so far, according to Lt. Gen. Saad Maan, head of Iraq's Security Media Cell.

Maan said in a statement on Monday that 1,813,188 foreign visitors from 172 nationalities had entered the country between June 16 and July 26.

This year's Arbaeen falls on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, corresponding to 20 Safar 1448 in the Hijri calendar, with arrivals expected to build in the days ahead of the observance.

In 2025, 21,103,524 people had arrived in the city for pilgrimage.

Arbaeen marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the third Shia Imam and a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was killed at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD. The occasion draws millions from across Iraq and abroad to the shrine city of Karbala in central Iraq, many of them traveling on foot, in one of the world's largest annual religious gatherings.

Read more: Faith and finances: Religious tourism fuels Iraq’s economy