Pakistan issues travel advisory for pilgrims flying to Iran and Iraq, telling Zaireen to verify every flight before departure

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony has issued a travel advisory for pilgrims flying to Iran and Iraq, urging them to check every flight before they leave home and to have a second plan ready if the first one falls apart. The circular, dated October 22, was passed to the ministry by the Foreign Office, which had conveyed guidance issued by Pakistan’s embassy in Baghdad.

Tehran, Mashhad and Najaf named

The warning is aimed squarely at Zaireen who combine both countries in a single journey — flying in to Tehran or Mashhad, visiting the shrines, and then crossing to Najaf, often on Iranian airlines. Those travellers, the ministry said, should verify every Iran–Iraq air sector before departure rather than assume a booking will hold. Registered Ziyarat Group Organisers, the companies that assemble most of these trips, have been told not to rely on unconfirmed Iranian connections and to brief every pilgrim in their groups before departure. The advisory does not stop anyone from travelling; it simply refuses to pretend the connections are more reliable than they are.

Carry extra funds, keep a way back

Pilgrims have also been advised to carry additional money — enough, if a flight is cancelled, to pay for alternative air or land travel and for accommodation while they wait. Organisers are expected to maintain those alternative land routes and contingency plans themselves, not improvise them at an airport counter. Iran and Iraq draw thousands of Pakistani pilgrims to Mashhad, Najaf and Karbala every year, many of them elderly and travelling in groups. A cancelled connection is an inconvenience for a business traveller; for a Zaireen party stranded between two shrine cities, it can unravel the whole pilgrimage — which is precisely what the ministry says these measures are meant to prevent.