Arbaeen pilgrims on foot in the mud

After two years marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and border restrictions, 21.2 million pilgrims flocked to the city in central Iraq this week, said the organisation that manages Abbas’s mausoleum. Among them are five million foreigners, including a record of more than three million from neighbouring Iran, according to authorities in the two countries. The pilgrims waved black flags and banners bearing the image of Hussein. This year, the commemorations are being held against the backdrop of a political crisis in Iraq.