ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced on Sunday that the government will not allow pilgrims to travel to Iran and Iraq by road for the Arbaeen pilgrimage this year, citing public safety and national security concerns for the ban.
Thousands of Pakistani citizens visit Iran and Iraq annually for religious tourism and to visit religious sites, including observing Arbaeen (Arabic for “forty”), a significant religious occasion in Shia Islam. It marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussain, who was “martyred” in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD.
Travelers to Iran and Iraq by road have often been targeted in sectarian attacks by armed groups in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, which shares a border with Iran.
Islamabad’s decision comes in the wake of a rise in militant attacks in the province by ethnic Baloch militant groups, who demand a greater share of the province’s mineral resources from Islamabad.
“After extensive consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Balochistan Government, and security agencies, it has been decided that Zaireen will not be allowed to travel to Iraq and Iran by road for Arbaeen this year,” Naqvi wrote on X.
