By John Lee. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has chaired a meeting of the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety in Baghdad. The committee decided that all arriving passengers, including Iraqi nationals, must hold a Covid-19 vaccination certificate. It also decided to end the exemption for umrah pilgrims from the requirement to have a Covid-19 […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Supreme Committee for Health and National Safety has approved the entry of 30,000 thirty thousand visitors from Iran and 10,000 from the rest of the world to attend the Arbaeen pilgrimage later this month in Karbala. Visitors will be required to show evidence of negative PCR test for COVID conducted within […]
By Hassan Ali Ahmed, for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq under pressure to open borders for Shiite pilgrims despite pandemic While the Iraqi government attempts to prevent the spread of the delta variant from Iran, there is […]
By John Lee. The Government of Iraq has reportedly revoked permission for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to operate special flights to Iraq for people intending to observe Arbaeen. The move is a consequence of Iraq's decision to ban all foreign arrivals into Iraq, due to the spread of Covid-19. (Source: Dawn)
By John Lee. Iraq's Higher Committee for Health and National Safety has decided to "ban the entry into Iraq of visitors from all countries". The move is an attempt to combat the coronavirus (Covid-19). This will create problems for religious pilgrims hoping to attend the Shi'ite Muslim gathering of Arbaeen, held in early October, which […]
Baghdad has decided to bar all foreign pilgrims from visiting Iraq for this year's Arbaeen season due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, an Iranian deputy minister said. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs Hossein Zolfaqari said he has been informed by Iran's ambassador to Baghdad about the […]
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq has so far registered 214 coronavirus cases and 17 deaths. To prevent further spread of the virus, the government imposed a weeklong curfew in Baghdad and other cities and cancelled all domestic […]
More than three million Iranians have registered to visit the holy cities of Iraq during the Arbaeen season, which marks the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shiite Imam, a senior official said on Saturday. Amir Moradi, the executive manager of a task force charged with handling the Arbaeen […]
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. US sanctions have made it too expensive for Iranian Shia Muslims to travel to Iraq to mark Ashoura. Ashoura is a day of remembrance, commemorating the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of […]
By Adnan Abu Zeed for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq's religious tourism suffers from US sanctions on Iran US economic sanctions on Iran are stemming the flow of religious tourists to neighboring Iraq, even as the Muslim holy month […]
By John Lee. Iraq will reportedly reduce its visa charges for Iranian pilgrims later this year. According to the report from Associated Press, the reduction will only apply to pilgrims of the "Arbaeen," the anniversary of the passage of 40 days after the death of Shiite Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson. Visas normally cost […]
From AFP. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Millions of Shiite pilgrims travelled to Iraq's shrine city of Karbala for the Arbaeen commemoration Thursday of Imam Hussein's killing in battle:
