%43 of Iranian Pilgrims Back Home: Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization
It added that with careful planning, all pilgrims will return to the country by the 5th day of Muharram (July 1).
“With the Hajj Organization’s serious efforts to expedite the safe return of pilgrims to the country, today 6,100 pilgrims whose travel period had expired were transferred to Arar Airport on the Saudi border (with Iraq) using Jeddah and Medina airports,” the statement said on Saturday.
“Also, 1,700 pilgrims left for the Iraqi border in 50 high-quality buses, bringing the total number of Iranian pilgrims leaving today to 7,800.”
It went on to say that they will travel to Iran after performing a pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala.
On Friday, Alireza Bayat, the head of the organization, noted that a hybrid aerial-ground route via Iraq is being used to transfer the Iranian Hajj pilgrims.
He appreciated the efforts made by Saudi Arabia and Iraq to facilitate this process.
Earlier, the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said in a statement, “Following the cancellation of flights and the inability to use air transport, the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization evaluated all possible options for the safe return of pilgrims and ultimately adopted a combined air-land travel plan to facilitate their repatriation.”
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Under the arranged plan—coordinated with the Saudi government—pilgrims will be flown 1,000 km from Medina to Arar Airport near the Iraqi border via Saudi airlines. They will then be transported by prearranged buses to either Najaf or Karbala, the statement noted.
After a short rest and visiting the holy shrines in those cities, pilgrims will be transferred by buses to Iran’s borders and then onward to their hometowns, it said.
The Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization will provide all necessary facilities during the transit process in Iraq, including meals, healthcare services, and even mobile internet access for pilgrims, it added.
“Given the current exceptional circumstances, any changes to the pilgrims’ transfer process will be promptly communicated,” the statement went on to say.
The Iranian Hajj pilgrims have remained in Saudi Arabia after the conclusion of Hajj due to cancelation of return flights after the Israeli regime launched its military aggression on Iran on June 13.
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