Salient Iranian Diplomat Participates in Arba’een March

A viral photo shows senior Iranian diplomat Seyyed Abbas Araqchi has participated in the Arba’een march, the world’s largest religious gathering in the world.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi (second from left) going to the Iraqi city of Karbala on foot during Arba'een March 2019

The photo shows Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs going on foot to Iraq’s Karbala where the holy shrine of the third Shiite Imam, Hussein ibn Ali (AS), is located.

Araqchi in this photo has wrapped his head and face to avoid the sunlight or perhaps not to be recognised.

During the past week, many Iranian and Iraqi government officials have gone on a pilgrimage to the holy shrines of Shiite Imams in Najaf and Karbala in one of the safest marches of recent years.

While there has been numerous attempts in the past weeks to create chaos and division in Iraq, this year’s Arba’een march was held more magnificently than previous years.

The Arba’een pilgrimage is the world’s largest annual public gathering that is held every year in Karbala, at the end of the 40-day mourning period following Ashura on which Imam Hussein (AS) and 72 of his loyal companions were brutally killed by the tyrant of the time, Yazid I.

The number of participants in the annual pilgrimage reached 20 million or more by 2016. On the routes of the pilgrimage, food, accommodation and other services are provided for free by volunteers.

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