Iranians banned to cross border to Iraq for pilgrimage visits

Tehran, April 24, IRNA – Spokesman of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, Reza Moussavi, on Friday announced his Organization's ban on Iranian nationals' crossing into Iraqi soil via Khosrawi border for pilgrimage visits until further notice.

Moussavi said the decision has been made following terrorist bombings in Iraqi holy cities since Thursday and killing or injuring of a number of Iranian pilgrims there as a result.

Injured Iranians at Taleghani hospital in Kermanshah, Iran

He said per his Organization's announcement no group or personal will be allowed to exit from the border for the said purpose until further notice.

A terrorist bombing in Diyala, east of Iraq, killed 45 and injured 67 Iranians on Thursday.

Based on latest dispatches, the terrorist incident overall killed 47, including 45 Iranians, and injured 70 others, including 67 Iranians, who traveled to Iraq to visit the country's holy sites.

Local sources told IRNA that 42 injured Iranians are in Baquba hospital in Diyala, north of Iraq, to receive medical treatment. Some of the Iranian victims are reportedly in a deteriorating condition, according to the sources.

An injured Iranian at Taleghani hospital in Kermanshah, Iran

A suicide bomber on Thursday blew himself up in a restaurant packed with Iranian pilgrims who were there to take a short rest and eat launch and say prayers.

Based on another report, two strong blasts too rocked Kadhimiya north of Baghdad Friday noon, killing or injuring a large number of pilgrims, including Iraqi ones, to holy shrines of the seventh and 9th Imams of Shiites.

No reliable report is yet available on details of the incident that happened when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the gates of Imam Moussa Kazem's (AS) shrine in Baghdad.

It is not yet clear whether Iranians are among the victims.

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