TEHRAN – An interim Friday prayer leader in Tehran has said the Arbaeen pilgrimage has turned into a nightmare for the hegemonic powers.

“Arbaeen has turned into a nightmare for the global arrogance and as you see they have boycotted reporting this event and fomented unrest in Iraq before Arbaeen,” Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari said on Friday, addressing worshippers in Tehran.

“The world is witnessing a great, unique and stunning event,” he said. “Arbaeen of Hussein is a magnificent, marvelous and inspiring phenomenon.”

“No doubt that as the Leader of the Revolution [Ayatollah Khaemeni] has said, this is a divine and spiritual phenomenon and it really cannot be described,” Haj Ali Akbari said.

Ayatollah Khamenei had said on September 18 that “the Arbaeen march is an extraordinary phenomenon not only in our era but also throughout history.”

“We cannot find such a gathering and movement that takes place every year more enthusiastically than the previous years,” the Leader added.

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

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

This year, Arbaeen fell on Saturday, October 19.

Meanwhile, in early October Iraq was rocked by a new wave of protests over economic hardships and unemployment. The timing of the start of the protests with the great march of Arbaeen aroused suspicions.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, blamed the U.S. and Saudi Arabia for the unrest, saying the two countries tried in vain to impact the deep and friendly relations between Iran and Iraq, and failed to reduce the huge turnout in Arbaeen march.

“Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are angry at all of Iran’s policies in Iraq and Syria and they have resorted to military, propaganda and political confrontation,” Mehr on Saturday quoted Boroujerdi as saying.

MH/PA