Shafaq News- Baghdad

2,139,186 pilgrims have entered Iraq since the start of the month of Muharram to take part in the Arbaeen pilgrimage, the command headquarters overseeing the event said on Tuesday, as arrivals continued to move through the country's border crossings.

Security and service agencies are carrying out field plans at the crossings and along main routes to keep pace with the rising numbers.

Pilgrims reach Karbala by several routes. Large numbers travel overland from Iran through crossings on the two countries' shared border, while others arrive by air, and many complete the final stage on foot. Many pilgrims walk roughly 80 kilometers over several days from Najaf, where Imam Ali bin Abi Taleb is entombed, to the shrine of Imam Hussein bin Ali in Karbala. Some set out from much farther south; one procession from Ras al-Bisha in Basra's al-Faw district, Iraq's southernmost point, said its journey to Karbala would take about 17 days.

Read more: Karbala, where memory breathes and future beckons

The pilgrimage draws participants from across the Muslim world. The largest foreign contingent comes from neighboring Iran, whose pilgrims enter Iraq by land and air before continuing to Najaf and Karbala. Pilgrims from India, Pakistan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Afghanistan and other countries also travel to Iraq.

At Najaf International Airport, two Iranian carriers, JSKY Airlines and Soroush Air, have joined the airlines serving the pilgrimage

This year's Arbaeen falls on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, corresponding to 20 Safar 1448 in the Hijri calendar. Arrivals are expected to build in the days before the observance, according to the command headquarters.

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.

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

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