Tasnim – Commander of Iran’s Border Police Brigadier General Qassem Rezaei described the current security situation of the common borders with Iraq as good and said grounds are provided for Iranian pilgrims to go to Iraq for Arbaeen rituals.


“Today, we are witnessing the highest level of unity between the nations and statesmen of Iran and Iraq,” Brigadier General Rezaei told reporters on the sidelines of his visit to the southwestern border crossing of Chazzabeh on Tuesday.

“Yesterday we held various meetings at the Mehran border crossing with all of Iraqi forces (in the area),” he added.

“We have a very good situation along the common borders and so far, no cases of insecurity have been reported,” the commander went on to say.

Arbaeen, which is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, comes 40 days after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of the third Shiite Imam, Imam Hussein (AS).

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.

Iranian pilgrims traveling to Iraq by land can choose from three border crossings, Shalamcheh, Chazzabeh and Mehran.

This year’s Arbaeen falls on October 30.