Two Iranian Clinics to Provide Arbaeen Pilgrims with Health, Medical Services

TEHRAN (IQNA) – An Iranian clinic in Iraq’s holy city of Karbala and another one in the holy city of Najaf will provide health and medical services to Arbaeen pilgrims, an official said.

Taher Dorudi, the Hajj and Umrah Deputy of the Iranian Red Crescent Society’s Medical Center, told IQNA that two medical teams from the country will be dispatched to Iraq.

Between 350 and 400 medical staff will be sent to Iraq, he said.

He noted that the number of Iranian medical staff being sent to Iraq in this year’s Arbaeen season is lower than that in previous years because the number of Iranian pilgrims allowed to make the trip this year is much lower.

Dorudi said, though, that the Iranian clinics in Karbala and Najaf will serve all Arbaeen pilgrims, not just Iranians.

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

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

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Baghdad decided to bar all foreign pilgrims from visiting Iraq for last year’s Arbaeen.

This year, it has allowed the participation of a limited number of foreign pilgrims in the religious event.

Arbaeen falls on September 27 this year.