AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Helicopters of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) have been given permission for flying in Iraq’s airspace during the Arbaeen season, an official said.
IRCS Chief Pir Hossein Koulivand, who also serves as the Iranian president’s special representative in the Arbaeen Headquarters, said this was announced in a meeting he had with the Iraqi interior minister.
He said the latest coordination for facilitating the Arbaeen pilgrimage and protecting the health and safety of pilgrims during the annual procession were discussed at the meeting, held in Baghdad on Sunday.
The Iraqi side also agreed to allow Iranian ambulances as well as medicine and necessary medical and health equipment from Iran to the Arab country, he noted.
Koulivand went on to say that based on the agreements reached at the meeting, Iranian doctors will cooperate with their colleagues in Iraqi hospitals.
Arbaeen is a religious event that is observed by Shia Muslims on the fortieth day after the Day of Ashura. It commemorates the 40th day of martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali (AS), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the third Shia imam, who was killed by the army of Yazid I in the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE.
Arbaeen is also known as the Ziyarat of Arbaeen, which means the visitation of Imam Hussein’s (AS) shrine in Karbala, Iraq, where his body is buried. Ziyarat is an act of pilgrimage and devotion in Shia Islam.
Arbaeen is one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world, with millions of Shia Muslims from different countries walking to Karbala from various cities in Iraq and neighboring countries. The distance can range from 80 km to 500 km or more, depending on the starting point.
This year’s Arbaeen is expected to fall on August 25, depending on the moonsighting.
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