Iran to begin arrangements for Arbaeen pilgrimage

The registration of visa applicants planning to visit Iraq for Arbaeen will begin by the end of the current Iranian month, which falls on August 22, Mohsen Nezafati, an official at Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization told Tasnim.

He also noted that all Iranian pilgrims will have to submit an application through a designated website.

If Iranian and Iraqi officials agree on all conditions, pilgrims will begin to obtain visas as early as September 2, he added.

More than 2 million Iranians traveled to Iraq in 2016 for Arbaeen, a major Shiite occasion marking the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS).

Nezafati predicted that the number of Iranian visitors would hit 3 million this year.

Each year, a huge crowd of Shiites flock to the Iraqi city of Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located, to perform mourning rites on Arbaeen.