Iranian state media say situation at Shlmicheh border is concerning

Reports from Sunday, September 25 by Iranian state media indicate a concerning situation at the Shlmicheh border.

According to these reports, police officers used water cannons to disperse crowds of pilgrims who intended to cross the Shlmicheh border terminal and enter Iraqi territory, resulting in approximately 40 people being injured.

Fars News Agency states that the exact number of victims is still unclear, but most of them were middle-aged and elderly women. The Shargh newspaper also reported on its Twitter account, citing unofficial reports from the terminal, that one person died in this incident.

According to IRNA, the security and police deputy of Khuzestan Province’s governorate has asked pilgrims not to travel to Iraq through the Shlmicheh and Chazabeh borders in the province, as they will be turned back by Iranian and Iraqi police forces.

Iraq, due to the coronavirus pandemic, has banned the entry of Iranian pilgrims into the country through land borders, and the two countries have agreed that pilgrims will only enter Iraq through air borders.

The aviation and international affairs deputy of Iran’s civil aviation organization said that initially, Iraqi Airways was supposed to transport pilgrims without visas to Najaf and issue their visas at the destination airport. However, after an agreement between the Iranian and Iraqi governments, it was decided that all pilgrims would receive visas before flying to Najaf.

Nevertheless, Iranian pilgrims whose names had been announced for group flights were coming to the airport and expected to be allowed to fly to Najaf without visas.

The aviation and international affairs deputy of the civil aviation organization also said that despite this, some of them, through multiple negotiations with Iraqi officials, flew to Najaf without visas, but as the number of pilgrims at the airport increased, these flights were halted.

Meanwhile, after reports emerged that a number of pilgrims without passports flew to Najaf on two aircraft from Isfahan and Mashhad, the Foreign Ministry formally warned the country’s aviation organization about the negative consequences of such actions and asked the organization to ensure that airlines refrain from boarding pilgrims without passports.

Source: Voice of America