Pilgrimage to Iran and Iraq ... The route of the Shiites

More than five hundred thousand Lebanese Shiites head for the holy sites in Iran and Iraq each year, to visit bereaved places and pay pilgrimage in accordance to their faith. These trips are organized by specialized offices licensed by the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council.          

Among these sites are Mashhad and Qumm in Iran, Karbala, Samrah, Kazmiyah, Najjaf el Ashraf, Kofa and others in Iraq.          

LBCI took a stroll through Beirut’s southern suburbs and asked several offices that organize the likes of these trips about the means of transport that are being used. Some offices said they relied on flights while others combined road and air transportation in order to suit the need of passengers that cannot afford aerial transportation.            

Passengers spend many days on the road as they head to visit sites such as the "Imam Hussein" in Iraq. The trip starts from Beirut’s Southern suburbs passing through Syria and then Karbalah. As for the road to Iran it goes through Aleppo bypassing the Turkish border all the way to Iran.                  

Lebanese Shiite pilgrims did not realize that their trip would turn sour or by the least they didn’t expect to be kidnapped as they paid respect to their faith. So, from hereon the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council has taken the decision to call off all pilgrim road trips for fears of other similar incidents occurring allowing pilgrims only to travel via airplanes to visit holy sites.