Over one million Iranian visitors enter Iraq via Zurbatiyah border crossing

WASIT, August 31 — The Zurbatiyah border crossing in Wasit Governorate has seen more than one million Iranian visitors since the start of Arbaeen commemorations, with 155,000 arrivals on Wednesday alone.

Visitors have also begun crossing back across the border into Iran in recent days after completing their pilgrimage.

Colonel Atef Naji, Director of Zurbatiyah Border Crossing, told 964: “In the past 24 hours, approximately 155,000 visitors entered, bringing the total number of visitors who crossed the border to over a million.”

“We began the process of ‘reverse transportation’ for the visitors who have completed their pilgrimage ceremonies since yesterday. More than 250,000 Iranian visitors have exited via the crossing,” he added.

Dakhil Unayd, Director of the Representation of Religious Rites and Hussaini Processions, said: “We provide around 40,000 meals daily to the visitors. The Al-Hussein Shrine provides us with 30,000 meals, while the Al-Abbas Shrine provides 10,000 meals. These meals are distributed around the clock.”

“The processions happening at the border crossing offer comprehensive and continuous services to visitors,” he added. “We expect the next three days to witness the peak period of visitor influx. Therefore, we call upon the residents of the governorate to prepare to provide services to the visitors.”