Iran Press/ Middle East: Arbaeen marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for the killing of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, by the forces of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD.
The annual pilgrimage usually sees millions of worshippers, mostly Iraqis and Iranians, converge on the central city of Karbala on foot.
Some 14 million attended in 2019, according to official figures, a third of them foreigners who came mostly from Iran, the Gulf, Pakistan, and Lebanon.
Last year, Baghdad limited the number of foreigners to 1,500 per country because of the risk of Covid-19 infection.
This year, "30,000 pilgrims from the Islamic Republic of Iran", Iraq's Shia-majority neighbor, will be allowed to attend, according to a decision by Iraq's health and security committee.
There will be a quota of "10,000 pilgrims from the Persian Gulf countries, Arab countries and the rest of the world", it added.
The committee presided over by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, said foreign pilgrims would be allowed to arrive only by air.
Arbaeen is marked 40 days after the Shia commemoration of Ashura.
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