Iranian, Iraqi interior ministers meet at border crossing

The interior ministers of Iran and Iraq, Ahmad Vahidi and Abdul Amir al-Shammari, have met at a border crossing between the two countries, discussing border security.

Iranian and Iraqi interior ministers Vahidi and al-Shammari

Vahidi and al-Shammari met at the Khosravi / al-Manzarieh crossing on Monday.

They also discussed preparations ahead of a pilgrimage by Iranians to the holy shrine of Imam Hossein (PBUH) on Arba’een, which marks forty days from the Imam’s martyrdom anniversary and when millions of Iranians travel to Karbala — many of them on foot — to visit the shrine.

Vahidi has traveled to Iran’s west to personally oversee preparations ahead of Arba’een, including a camping site built by Iran’s Defense Ministry on grounds seven hectares in area.

The site has four sheds, each measuring 1,200 square meters, to accommodate pilgrims. A 600-square-meter kitchen, two helicopter pads, and 40 public restrooms are among the other amenities at the site.

There is also a parking lot that can hold 1,000 vehicles.

Nearly one million people are estimated to pass through the Khosravi / al-Manzarieh border crossing, in Iran’s Qasr-e Shirin, and into Iraq for Arba’een this year.

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