15 Million Pilgrims Expected to Visit Mashhad in Holidays

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Fifteen million pilgrims are expected to visit the holy city of Mashhad, northeast Iran, in the upcoming new year holidays (which start on March 21), an official said.

Mohammad Sadeq Barati, and official with the Pilgrims Affairs Department at the Khorasan Razavi Governor’s Office, told IQNA that since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 2019), more than 37 million pilgrims visited the holy city.

He added that the number of pilgrims expected to visit in Noruz (new Iranian year) holidays is about 15 million.

Accordig to Barati, all necessary preparations have been made by the related organizations and government bodies in the city and the province of Razavi Khorasan to best host the visitors during the holidays.

Mashhad is home to the shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Shia Imam. It is one of the most extensively visited pilgrimage centers in the world.

Tens of millions of pilgrims from all over Iran as well as other countries visit the holy city every year.