Police Chief: All Routes Secure for Arbaeen Journey

Date: 21 October 2018 - 21:56

News ID: ۵۸۷۸۴

TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iranian police chief Brigadier General Hussein Ashtari on Sunday touched on facilities provided for pilgrims traveling to Iraq to mark  Arbaeen, saying no security problem has been reported so far.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his visit to the southwestern border crossing of Shalamcheh on Sunday, Ashtari expressed his gratitude to the Arbaeen pilgrims for cooperating with police forces.
"Thank God, there have been no security problems at the country’s three border crossings, namely Shalamcheh, Mehran, and Chazabeh,” the police chief added.
He went on to say that police forces have been stationed in all routes used by pilgrims to reach the Iraqi borders and provide them with needed advice.
Arbaeen, which is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, comes 40 days after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of the third Shia Imam, Imam Hussein (AS).
Each year, a huge crowd of Shiites flock to the Iraqi city of Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located, to perform mourning rites.
Hundreds of professional correspondents, media managers and technical staff are leaving Iran for Iraq to cover the event, the world’s largest religious gathering.
An official said the enemies are plotting to tarnish the image of the pilgrimage, and thus Iranian journalists should portray true realities about the event.
Director of the Information Committee on Arbaeen Muhammad Alavi said relying merely on the official media capacities will prevent the committee from fully covering the big pilgrimage.
"That’s why, along with official correspondents from mainstream media, we need to rely on the help by any pilgrim who is willing to serve as a reporter to broadcast further news and beauties of Arbaeen to the whole world,” he said.
According to the official, the Islamic Republic will dispatch about 1,600 documentary-makers, correspondents, photographers and technical staff to Iraq for covering Arbaeen.
"This year, 400 TV channels from 43 countries will cover the Arbaeen epic. Meanwhile, about 1,200 experts from various countries will appear before the cameras of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) to elaborate on Arbaeen,” he noted.
The committee director also said for the first time in the past years, at least 77 SNGs are set to be deployed in 13 stations allocated for Arbaeen’s coverage.
According to Alavi, this year two media stations will be set up equipped with high-speed internet to provide the correspondents as well as the pilgrims with free access to the internet.
He then referred to the establishment of Radio Arbaeen station, saying this year the radio will lively broadcast programs on Arba’een in Iraq.
"This year, 40 radio frequencies broadcast programs in English, Arabic and Persian. Meanwhile, we have prepared at least 130 documentaries to be broadcast by the IRIB during Arbaeen.”
Alavi said the presence of professional correspondents is highly significant for giving a full coverage to Arbaeen. Therefore, he said, the media outlets should send their most professional correspondents to the pilgrimage.
"The media should provide their audiences with a full picture of the social and public order during the pilgrimage and we hope the order could get more widespread year by year,” he said.