TEHRAN – Iranian Intelligence Minister Seyed Mahmoud Alavi announced on Monday that two terrorist groups who intended to do sabotage acts on the route of Arbaeen pilgrims have been disbanded in the southwestern province of Khuzestan. 

Underscored his ministry’s upper hand in detecting and countering any terrorist plot amid the Arbaeen march, Alavi said, “Two terrorist groups that had planned to conduct terrorist operation during the Arbaeen time were identified and their members were arrested.”

He further said that a sum of 50 fire guns were seized from the terrorist groups.

The intelligence minister, who paid a visit to the Shlamcheh border crossing in Khuzestan province on Monday to monitor movements of pilgrims to Iraq, traveled to Chazabeh, another passageway of pilgrims.
 
Secretary of the Security and Law Enforcement Committee of the Arbaeen Central Headquarters recently said more than two million Iranian pilgrims have crossed the border into Iraq to attend the Arbaeen ritual.

“The number of pilgrims who have crossed land and air borders has crossed the two-million mark, and the figure is expected to cross 2.2 million by midnight,” Hossein Sajedinia said on Thursday, Mehr reported.

Sajedinia said border crossings were overcrowded but people were crossing through the gates smoothly.

He also asked Iranian pilgrims to use all three available border crossings to prevent overcrowding at the Khosravi border checkpoint, which is a popular exit point for Iranians leaving the country.

The Arbaeen march, which is the largest religious gathering in the world, comes 40 days after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the second Imam of Shia Muslims and the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

This year, Arbaeen falls on Saturday, October 19.

Each year, a huge crowd of people flock to Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located, to perform mourning rituals.

By Thursday more than 3 million people had registered to participate in the Arbaeen march.

This year, visa requirement was removed for the pilgrims as a “positive step” toward paving the way for Iranian pilgrims visiting the neighboring country. 

  
MJ/PA