TEHRAN —Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Tuesday thanked his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein for great deal of efforts to host millions of Iranian pilgrims who join Arabeen procession.

In a telephone conversation, Amir-Abdollahian expressed his gratitude to the Iraqi government and nation for their warm hospitality during the Arabeen procession.

Referring to the significance of the occasion, Amir-Abdollahian said that Iraq’s proper holding of the million-strong Arbaeen march is indicative of power and stability in the friendly and brotherly country.

Over the past couple of days, millions of Shia Muslim pilgrims massed at the golden-domed mausoleums of the holy Iraqi city of Karbala, commemorating Arbaeen, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. Arbaeen Day is commemorated today on September 6.

According to early estimates made by Iraqi sources, some 30 million people, including Iranians, have taken part in the procession in Iraq.

The Islamic Republic hit a new participation record with four million visitors, a top security official told IRNA, up from three million last year.

Marked by Shia Muslims, who constitute the majority in Iraq and Iran, Arbaeen (“Forty” in Arabic) marks the 40th day of mourning for the martyr Imam Hussein (AS), grandson of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). Karbala, where the third Shia Imam and his brother Abbas are buried in two enormous mausoleums facing each other.

Pilgrims openly express their suffering, weeping and wailing in memory of the slain Imam Hussein, who was killed in 680 CE during a battle in Karbala with the Umayyad caliph Yazid.

Traditionally, the on-foot trek starts days before the Arbaeen as devotees take various routes toward the holy shrines in Karbala. One of the major routes is an 80-km-long one between the holy Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Throughout the journey, pilgrims are welcomed and served by Moukebs (also Mowkibs), makeshift tents erected along the paths, that offer food, drinks, accommodation, medicine and other services to the pilgrims.

AFM