By Salah al-Rubai
Azzaman, November 28, 2014
Hundreds of thousands of Iranian pilgrims are expected to march to Iraq’s Shiite shrines to commemorate the holy day called the festival of Arbaeeniya.
Nearly 700,000 Iranians will pour into Iraq next week to join millions of Iraqi pilgrims and others from different countries to mark the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein, who was killed with his family by Yazid, a Muslim ruler of Ummayad Caliphate of which Damascus with the capital.
“Some 700,000 Iranians are on their way to enter Iraq through the border point of Zarbatiya to pay homage to Arbaeeniya (the passage of 40 days on the martyrdom of Imam Hussein),” an official statement said.
The Arbaeeniya ceremony, which takes place in the holy city of Karbala, is among the largest religious gatherings in the world and the authorities are taking unprecedented measures to guard millions of pilgrims against attacks by Islamic State insurgents.
The statement faxed to the newspaper quoted Iranian ambassador to Iraq as confirming the figure and adding that Zarbatiya will be the only point of entry for the Iranians willing to take part in one of the most solemn days in the Shiite calendar.
Iran is offering logistical assistance, ferrying ambulances with medical teams, hundreds of passenger buses and other amenities to cater for the influx of millions of pilgrims to Karbala.
