TEHRAN – Mashhad authorities have estimated up to ten million travelers and pilgrims will be arriving in the holy city, which is home to the shrine of Imam Reza (AS), during the two-week Noruz holidays.

“We estimate 8 to 10 million people would visit Mashhad in Noruz…  this way, all our strategies are based on having a proper host of pilgrims under health and safety protocols,” ISNA quoted an official in charge of pilgrimage affairs as saying on Monday.

Mashhad, the capital of Khorasan Razavi province, is Iran’s holiest and second-largest city which embraces the shrine complex of the eighth Shia Imam.

Before the coronavirus puts almost everything on lockdown, Mashhad, played host to thousands of travelers and pilgrims who come from various Iranian cities, neighboring countries, and even across the globe to visit the holy shrine.

According to official statistics, some 37 million Iranian pilgrims and travelers visited the shrine city of Mashhad during the first ten months of the past Iranian calendar year 1398 (March 21, 2019- March 10, 2020). Of whom some eight million came by road, six million by rail, 3.8 million by air, and 18 million by private cars.

During that time most businesses and workplaces are closed, as are schools yet nearly all of its attractions and museums are open to the public.

Millions of Iranians grasp the opportunity to travel mainly to the countryside. Their numbers are sometimes difficult to gauge accurately as many run their own cars to get around.

AFM