ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked the concerned authorities to arrange special flight arrangements to facilitate pilgrims’ travel to Iran and Iraq, Pakistani state media reported.
The development came hours after Pakistan suspended road travel to Iran and Iraq for the Arbaeen pilgrimage this year, citing public safety and national security concerns.
Thousands of Pakistanis travel to Iran and Iraq annually to visit religious sites, including observing Arbaeen (Arabic for “forty”), a significant religious occasion in Shia Islam that marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussain, who was “martyred” in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD.
On Sunday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with PM Sharif and briefed him regarding the new policy for Pakistani Shia pilgrims’ travel to Iran and Iraq, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency reported.
“The prime minister directed the Minister for Aviation to arrange special flights for the zaireen (pilgrims),” the report read.
Pakistanis traveling to Iran and Iraq via road have often been targeted in sectarian attacks by armed groups in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, which shares border with Iran.
Islamabad’s decision to restrict road travel came in the wake of a rise in militant attacks in the province by ethnic Baloch militant groups who demand a greater share of the province’s mineral resources from Islamabad.
“After extensive consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Balochistan Government, and security agencies, it has been decided that zaireen will not be allowed to travel to Iraq and Iran by road for Arbaeen this year,” Naqvi wrote on X.
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